


Lawndale High: The Next Generation - season 1

by Peridaniel



Series: Lawndale High: The Next Generation [1]
Category: Daria (Cartoon)
Genre: Fankids - Freeform, Multi, Next Generation, mainly OCs - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-11 12:07:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20545910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peridaniel/pseuds/Peridaniel
Summary: Join Philip and Amy Morgendorffer-Lane as they make the move from New York City to their parents' old home of Lawndale and meet friends, love interests, allies, and idiots.





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! Some brief notes before you read, if you so choose to acknowledge them: 
> 
> This series is my take on Daria x Jane fankids, which I was somewhat inspired to do after reading the Heather/Damsel Chronicles by NightGoblyn (which I reccomend, if you don't mind the fact that it's abandoned at only 11 chapters :/ ). 
> 
> It mostly uses elements from the "Daria 20 years later" thing by Susie Lewis and Karen Disher, albeit an obviously slightly altered version of it. I also wanted to make it more episodic and lighthearted like the original series, as opposed to H/DC's more serious tone and overarching storyline.
> 
> Most characters and storylines are mine, except some situational details and the characters Timmy, Tommy, and Teddy Morgendorffer, which were created by Susie Lewis and Karen Disher. And, of course, the characters from the Daria canon were created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis. 
> 
> That's all, and I promise, my other author's notes won't be this long (God, I hate myself for even making them this long now). Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip and Amy Morgendorffer-Lane experience their first day at their parents' old school, Lawndale High. They meet some new friends, and even more new interesting idiots.

The bright September morning sun shown over Lawndale, many kids basking in its light as they enjoyed the final fleeting moments of summer before they were to go to school that morning.

In one subdued blue household tucked away in the heart of the town, only recently purchased by new tenants, two of these kids were only just rising from bed and preparing for the day. 

One raven-haired girl tried to wipe the crust away from her blue eyes and slowly walked to her closet, picking out a black Set It Off T-shirt, a pair of tight jeans, and black combat boots given to her by her father, which she took pride in wearing. She lethargically threw off her oversized shirt and shorts she always wore to bed and put on the outfit she had picked out before trudging down the stairs, eyes half closed. 

A blonde, brown-eyed boy in the adjacent bedroom was a bit more alert and had actually been doodling at his desk for about half an hour before his alarm indicated that it was time to get ready. He himself picked out a gray T-shirt, blue zip-up hoodie, black pants, and navy blue sneakers. He got dressed, rolled up the sleeves of the unzipped hoodie, combed his hair, and joined the girl in her slow descent down the stairs. 

"Morning, Amy," he greeted with an amiable smile.

"Mm," the girl responded, her eyes closed. 

"Don't trip," the boy said teasingly. "We live in a house with stairs now, Ames. Stairs that you can fall down." 

Any managed to open her eyes halfway and smile at her brother. "We've been in this house for two months, Philip. My brain's long adjusted its morning autopilot to its layout." 

As the two reached the end of the staircase, however, and just after saying that, Amy accidentally skipped a stair and nearly fell down before quickly catching herself with help from the banister. 

"You were saying?" Philip said, standing a step above her. 

Amy gave him a playful punch on the arm as the two went to the kitchen. The smell of pancakes and freshly cooked bacon wafted through the air as the two got closer to a table two people were already sitting at.

"Yo," Jane greeted. 

"Hey, Mom," Philip greeted back, sitting down. Looking confusedly at the other person at the table, he added, "Hey... Dad?" 

Amy's tired eyes brightened up and she smiled widely as she sat down. "Hey, Dad. What are you still doing here? We never get to see you in the morning anymore."

"Hey," Daria greeted, lifting her eyes from the book she was reading. "Yea, I'm going to work late today. Figured I'd see you off to your first day at _Laaawndale_ High." She put special emphasis on "Lawndale," just as her old principal did. 

"And Philip's first day of high school period," added Jane. "Jesus Christ, have you two grown like weeds." 

"Fair warning, LHS is nothing like the schools in New York, to say the least," Daria said. 

"Not complaining about that," Amy said back through a mouthful of pancake, having already dealt with a year in the jungles of one of Manhattan's high schools. Philip simply shrugged, having never experienced high school anywhere.

"You kids are too well-adjusted sometimes," Jane said half-teasingly.

* * *

The black car driven by Jane eventually pulled up in front of Lawndale High. Daria and Jane instantly noticed how different the school was from when they went. The sign on the grass in front of the driveway was replaced with an electronic one, reading _Welcome back!_ in blue and yellow letters. There also appeared to be a lion mural on the sidewalk in front of the door, and the whole place somehow seemed cleaner. 

"Wowza," Jane said. 

"Indeed," Daria said with a nod. Turning back to her kids in the backseat, she said, "Welp, here you are. If you need any help navigating the place, which is highly unlikely, you can always go to your cousins. But remember, Teddy is the only one whose opinions and information you should trust." 

"Yes, sir," Amy said, exiting the car with Philip. "And speak of the devil, there they are." 

A silver minivan was stopped directly behind Jane's vehicle. In the driver's seat was a red haired woman who smiled and waved at the kids, and exiting the minivan were three boys who appeared to be arguing over something. 

"Hey, you two," the woman said, stepping out of the vehicle. 

"Hey, Aunt Quinn," Philip said. 

"How you doing? Been enjoying Lawndale?" Quinn asked. 

"It's ok," Amy said with a shrug. 

"I know it's not like the crazy big city life you two are used to, but it's not so bad," Quinn said with a smile. "Don't listen to what your parents tell you otherwise."

"Thanks," Philip said. 

"Anyway, you two should probably get going," Quinn said, waving them off. "I'm sure your cousins will be happy to see you every day now instead of just at family gatherings and stuff." 

Philip and Amy waved goodbye to their aunt before entering the school. The office wasn't too difficult to find and was aptly marked _Principal_ in writing on the door. They entered the room and saw a man sitting at the desk. 

He had thinning black hair with streaks of gray and a handlebar mustache and wore thin, frameless glasses and a light blue three-piece suit with a green-and-black striped tie. He most certainly did not look like any principal the kids had seen before. 

"Greetings," the man greeted in a deep, but flamboyant voice. "Principal MacMorris at your service. How can I help you?" 

Philip and Amy shared a bemused glance. Amy stepped forward and spoke. 

"Um, we're new here," she said. "And we never got our schedules or anything."

"Ah, alright," Mr. MacMorris said, shuffling through some papers. "Mind telling me your last names?" 

"Morgendorffer-Lane," Amy replied. "That's both of our last names." 

"Uh huh..." Mr. MacMorris continued to shuffle through papers before stopping at two and smiling. "Philip Vincent and Amelia Rose?" 

"That's us," Amy said. 

"Alrighty!" Mr. MacMorris pulled the papers out and looked at them for a few moments. "Which one is which?" 

Philip and Amy looked at him oddly before he burst out into laughter, slapping the desk. 

"Oh, I'm kidding, I'm kidding," he said through the laughter. "Here are your schedules, kiddos. Have a nice first day." 

"Um, thanks." Amy took them and gave Philip's to him. 

They walked out and looked around the halls before spotting the three boys that had walked out of Quinn's car once again, still arguing. 

Quinn's triplet sons looked almost alike. They shared their mother's fiery red hair, as well as the same green eyes, short stature, and lanky build. The only differences were their haircuts, wardrobes, and most notably, their personalities. 

"I'm just saying, Teddy, our cousins are here and you could stand to be a bit more of a positive influence on them," the boy with neatly cut and combed hair and a red polo said. "After all, you know as well as I do that their parents don't necessarily scream 'positivity.'"

"And I'm just saying, Tommy, it's not my responsibility to be a 'positive influence' on anyone," the boy in the green hoodie with messy, overgrown hair spat back. "And Aunt Daria and her wife parent them just fine." 

"I never insulted their parenting skills," Tommy said calmly. "Just said that they aren't positive." 

"And I'm saying that that doesn't freaking matter, nor does how positive I am," Teddy said. 

"Boys, boys, you need to learn that there's more to life than positivity and negativity," the boy in a blue varsity jacket with a high-and-tight cut said with a declarative finger. "It's about looking good and making an impression." 

"We're talking about our cousins, Timmy," Teddy said with a disgusted tone. 

"I know," Timmy said. "I wanna teach them that." 

Teddy sighed. "Don't you have a football team to smash pigskin and share the four communal brain cells with?" 

Timmy gasped in realization and ran off, presumably to where the rest of his team was. Tommy rolled his eyes and walked off in a different direction, leaving Teddy walking alone. 

"I see the Morgendorffer brothers still have the same warm relationship you always display at family gatherings," Amy said, she and Philip quickening their paces to walk alongside him. "And you were fighting about our wellbeing. How sweet." 

Teddy scoffed. "The only thing warm about us is the lava from the volcano we all wanna throw each other in." He shrugged. "But I suppose it's better at school, considering Tommy always hangs with his theatre buddies and Timmy always circlejerks with the football team. So, what about you two? Still have that sickeningly close sibling bond?" 

"Indeed, but we still sympathize with your situation," Amy said. 

"So, does everyone still call you the TM3?" asked Philip. 

"Only because 'the three heads of a suicidal chimera' is too long and not school appropriate," Teddy replied. 

"That's more fun, though..." Amy whined.

"It's a damn shame, isn't it?" a female voice said from behind them. "I've always called them 'Teddy and his idiot brothers' myself, but that's probably boring, too." 

The group turned around to see a girl around their age. She was extremely tall, at least six foot, and had neck-length black hair, green eyes a bit darker than the triplets', and wore a light gray T-shirt with black leggings and a smirk on her face. 

Philip found himself mesmerized by her appearance and demeanor. He kept his gaze on her, trying to hold off the red color threatening to take over his face. _First day of high school and you're already getting the hots for someone. Great job, Philip._

"So, who are these two, Teddy?" the girl asked, eyeing Philip and Amy. "New kids that won't make me want to commit arson upon the school?" 

Teddy nodded. "My cousins from New York. I think I've told you about them before. They're my Aunt Daria's kids." 

"Oh, so they're the famed cousins you've told me about," the girl said. Turning to Philip and Amy, she said with a smile, "I'm Natalie Thompson." 

"I'm Amy Morgendorffer-Lane," Amy said. "And the boy staring at you is my little brother Philip." 

Philip felt his stomach leap to his throat. "Um, uh, I was just," he stammered as he felt sweat bead up on his forehead, "I was just staring off into space. Sorry." 

Natalie laughed. "It's alright. I do that all the time." 

Philip sighed with relief, but felt a little uneasy when he saw Amy teasingly smiling at him, clearly knowing why he was really staring. 

"Anyways, we better get to class," Teddy said. "Amy's in our grade, so she probably has class with us a lot." 

Natalie grabbed Amy's schedule out of her hand and looked over it. "And so we do. Including first hour English." 

"We better go there then," Amy said. "See ya at lunch, Phil." 

"Oh, yea, you two should totally sit at our table," Natalie said. "Anyway, bye, dude." She smiled at Philip and walked away with Teddy and Amy.

Philip sighed with relief. He would eventually find a way to deal with her without bursting into flames, but for now, he had to go to his first hour as well. 

He looked at his schedule, which said that he had science class with someone with the last name Stephenson in room 182. After going to his locker and setting up base there, he went down the halls of Lawndale High until he found the room marked 182 and stepped inside. 

The room was painted blue with lab safety posters lining the walls and several various lab supplies as well as an enclosed chemical cleaning shower in the back. Black lab tables filled the room and a bigger one sat up front, an African American man with a thick ponytail and a goatee sitting behind it with his feet on top. 

"Hello, young man," he said in a high, mellowed out voice. "What might you be called?" 

"Philip Morgendorffer-Lane," he replied. 

"Heavens, what a mouthful," the man muttered. "But no judgement here. Nice to meet you, Philip. I'm Mr. Stephenson. Sit anywhere you'd like." He shot a friendly smile at Philip, which he awkwardly returned before sitting at a desk in the back and opening up his sketchbook. 

Soon after, another boy came in. He was tall and had bigger-on-top jet black hair and wore a black tank top, showing his muscular build. 

"Hello there," Mr. Stephenson greeted, much like he did with Philip. "What might you be called?" 

"I'm Trevor!" the boy chirped. 

"Nice to meet you," Mr. Stephenson said. "You can sit anywhere." 

"Cool." Trevor kept a smile on his face as he walked over to where Philip was sitting and, to his dismay, sat next to him.

Philip nervously looked at him, but continued drawing. Trevor looked over his shoulder. 

"You're really good, man," he said. "I'm Trevor. What's your name?" 

"Philip," replied Philip quietly. 

"Hi, Philip," Trevor said. "So, what kinda grade do you get?" 

"Uh, mostly A's," Philip replied. 

"Alright, a brain!" exclaimed Trevor. "My parents say that brains may not be cool to hang around, but they're the best type to sit next to. You know what I'm saying?" 

Philip gave him an odd look before saying, "Uh, sure." 

"Ooh, hey, check it out!" Trevor said, pulling Philip's arm and pointing at three new figures in the doorway. "It's the Ice Dragons. Hottest girls in the freshman class." 

There were three girls walking in. One had dirty blonde hair and wore a red tank and black skirt, one had ash blonde hair and wore a tight white long sleeve shirt with gray leggings, and one had brown hair and wore a purple jacket over a blue shirt with tight jeans. 

"Hello, ladies," Mr. Stephenson said. "What are your names?" 

"Hayley Mertz," the dirty blonde replied with a shrill voice. 

"Isabelle Albert," the ash blonde replied, a bit slower and quieter. "But, like, call me Izzy. Isabelle is... ew." 

"And, um, I'm Abigail," the brunette replied quietly and softly. "Abigail Drew." 

"She goes by Abby," Hayley said much more firmly. "Isn't that right?" 

"Yea," Abby said quickly. 

"Okee doke," Mr. Stephenson said. "Nice to meet you. You can sit anywhere." 

"Geek," Hayley muttered as they walked to another desk in the back. 

"Hey, girls," Trevor greeted. 

Abby smiled and waved, but Hayley shot him a dirty look, glaring at Abby as well and prompting her to stop waving. Izzy simply stared at him dispassionately.

"Hey, Trevyn," she said deadpan. 

"It's Trevor," Trevor said as the three scrunched into one table.

* * *

Amy, Teddy, and Natalie, meanwhile, walked to their English class. The room had a simple layout, with a few grammar reminder posters halfheartedly plastered on the walls and desks in rows. A man with slicked back brown hair in a blue T-shirt sat at the desk. 

"Hey, Teddy," the man greeted. "Hey, Natalie. You actually gonna do all your work this year, or just enough to pass again?" 

"Um..." Natalie replied with a sheepish look. 

"I'm just playing," the man said. "Anyway, you must be the new kid joining the sophomore class." He looked at Amy with a smile. 

"Yep," Amy said.

"I'm Mr. Sloane. I'm the English teacher, in case you didn't figure that out," he said, pulling up a page on his computer that listed all his students. "And you must be Amelia-" He developed a strange look as he read her last name- "Morgendorffer-Lane." 

"It's a mouthful of a last name, I know-" 

"It's not that," Mr. Sloane said. "Just- Eh, nevermind. Don't wanna weird you out or anything." 

"Ok..." Amy said. "Anyway, I go by Amy, not Amelia." 

"Noted," Mr. Sloane said. "I don't do seating charts, so you can sit anywhere." 

Amy nodded and sat in a desk in the back between Teddy and Natalie.

"Don't sweat how weird he is," Teddy said. "He reacted the same way when he read me and my brother's names. And then, during parent teacher conferences, he looked disappointed when he saw our mom." 

"That's a little creepy, don't you think?" Amy raised an eyebrow. 

"Again, don't sweat it. He's a decent teacher otherwise." 

"Pretty laid back, too," Natalie added. "My brother is in AP Literature with him and says he makes it so easy, it doesn't even feel like it's AP. Which, of course, being eternally chill can be pretty difficult considering..." She motioned to the door, which Timmy was practically shoving Tommy into before walking in himself. 

"Ah, the whole unholy trinity hath arriveth," Mr. Sloane said with a smirk. 

Tommy shot him a nasty look before sitting down front and center. Timmy merely looked annoyed as he sat around the middle and off to the side.

* * *

Soon enough, lunchtime arrived and Philip met up with Amy as she stood in line. 

"Yo," Amy said to him. "How's your day been?" 

"I've met some interesting idiots, I suppose," Philip replied with a shrug. 

"Too bad you're not in the same grade as me. Easier to avoid the idiots when you have friends around." 

"No need to brag." 

As they walked through the lunchline, they grabbed some almost-edible-looking pizza-like food, some water, an unusually shiny apple that reeked of pesticides, and some cheap Jell-O. 

"How the hell did Mom and Dad eat this crap?" asked Amy. 

"Quite possibly the same way we handle it." Teddy, along with Natalie, approached them as they broke off from the lunch line, lunchboxes in hand. 

"Pack your own lunches," said Natalie. "You're much better off. Now, let's see if Fort Thompsondorffer is still ours, or if a bunch of idiots snagged it." 

"I thought it was called Schloss Morgenthompson," Teddy said. 

"Pssh, that's a dumb name." 

"And Fort Thompsondorffer isn't?" 

"Do you mind explaining to us what the hell you're talking about?" Amy asked. 

"Our lunch table," Natalie replied. "And regardless, it still stands alone, patiently awaiting its rightful owners." She pointed to a table in the corner of the cafeteria and walked over to it, followed by everyone else. 

"Ooh, it still has that mysterious stain that may or may not be peanut butter," Teddy said, looking at a stain on the side of the table. 

"Sick," responded Natalie. Looking under the table, she added, "It still has those two petrified blobs of ABC gum at the bottom, too." 

"All is as it should be," Teddy said. 

"Woo!" a sudden voice shouted as Timmy, Trevor, and a few other rowdy football players walked to a table in the center. 

"I'm so glad to see you guys again," Timmy said. "Especially you, Trevor. It was a long year without you." He looked melodramatically emotional, staring off as he said that.

"Aw, dude, same!" Trevor said back. "It was like my life had no meaning without you, bro." 

The two fist-bumped and slapped each other on the back, the rest of the team doing the same to one another. 

"And that, kids, is a pack of wild football players," Teddy said. "Don't get too close, especially to the one who happens to be my brother." 

"Or my brother," Natalie said. "The black haired one, Trevor. He's nice enough, but god, is he annoying." 

"Your... brother?" Philip asked, shooting his head up. Now that he looked at both of them, they did have a few similarities. 

"Yep," replied Natalie. "Have two of them, and two little sisters. Things can be a bit crazy at home, but my older brother KJ usually keeps the peace, and my dad tries to. Anyway, he must be in your class, Philip. Hope he doesn't annoy you too much." 

Philip simply shrugged in response.

"Anyway, what's you two's sibling experience?" Natalie asked. 

"Close as ever," Amy replied, wrapping Philip in a one-armed embrace that he struggled to squirm out of. "And how could I not? Philip's such a great guy, you know? He's a wonderful artist, he's sweet to everyone, he's fun to be around..." 

Philip shot a confused, annoyed look at Amy, as if to say, _What the hell are you doing?_

"I'm helping you get the girl," Amy whispered in his ear, quiet so that neither Teddy nor Natalie heard. Speaking louder again, she continued, "Yea, Philip's the best boy who's ever walked the Earth." 

Philip finally managed to squirm out of his sister's arm, looking at Natalie with a bashful smile and an embarrassed blush. "Heh... Thank you, Amy, for, um, that." He cleared his throat. "But, uh, yea, we've always gotten along pretty good." _When she's not the most actively humiliating facet of my life, anyway._

* * *

After school, Jane picked her children up in the same car she and Daria drove them to school in. 

"So, how was your first day of school?" she asked as Amy took shotgun and Philip got in back. 

"Decent," answered Amy. "Philip likes a girl." 

"Amy!" Philip shouted. 

"Ooh..." Jane said. "When's the wedding?" 

"Mom..."

"I wonder how I'd look as her Maid of Honor..." Amy looked up in thought. "After all, I am the groom's older sister who will always be remembered as the one who made them realize their undying love for each other." 

"Oh, like your Aunt Quinn always claims to be for me and your dad," said Jane. "Though, if we're being honest, nobody needs to actively realize their undying love for me, especially your father." 

"Let's change the subject," Philip said quickly. 

"Alright, alright, Romeo," Jane said. "As a reward for not murdering anyone or setting fire to the school, when your dad gets home, we're all going out for pizza at our old hangout spot, Pizza King. Great stuff, I'll tell you that." 

"Is this really as a 'reward,' or are you and Dad just too lazy to cook tonight?" asked Amy. 

"Don't sass me, young lady."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Tonight, the foxes hunt the hounds_   
_It's all over now_   
_Before it has begun,_   
_We've already won_
> 
> _We are... wild_  
_We are like young volcanoes_  
_We are... wild_  
_Americana exotica_  
_Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby, yea?_  
-Young Volcanoes, Fall Out Boy
> 
> (idk why, but I thought this fit well with the story and characters)


	2. Band Geek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natalie's brother, KJ, invites music-lover Amy to watch his band practice. Amy notices that they don't have a bassist, and is quick to point out to them that she has both a bass guitar and the skill to play it well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, and welcome to another episode of my fankid story. Thanks to the four people who have left kudos, and anyone else who lurked, but liked. It's not much, but given that this is the first time I've done any story remotely like this, it does give me a bit of a confidence boost that people actually like it. 
> 
> Anyways, a connection to the original Daria's cast that I'm sure you've all already made will likely be confirmed in this episode, and I hope you'll all notice some hinting towards another one. Aside from that, enjoy.

Philip and Amy both stood by the front doors of the school, watching as rain pounded against the ground along with an occasional flash of lightning accompanied by a distant boom of thunder. 

"I love thunderstorms," Philip said with a smile. 

"I don't," Amy said, looking annoyed. "Where the hell is Mom? She's not expecting us to walk home in this, is she?" 

"Relax. She's probably just running late," Philip responded, still staring entrancedly out the doors. 

Amy simply groaned and leaned against a locker with her arms folded across her chest. 

"Yo," Natalie greeted as she walked towards them along with a slightly taller boy with buzzed blonde hair wearing a dark red T-shirt. "You two need a ride?" 

"Nah," Amy replied. "Our mom's just running late." 

"Too bad," the blonde boy said. "I'd invite you to come to my band practice otherwise." 

"Band?" Amy approached him, intrigued. 

"Yep," replied Natalie. "This is my brother, KJ. He's the drummer of a band. He always offers to bring me to their practices whenever he drives me home." 

"What kind of music does your band play?" asked Amy. 

"We consider ourselves a fusion of grunge, punk, and general alt rock," KJ replied. "Judging by your T-shirt, you might actually like us." He pointed to the Set It Off logo on Amy's shirt. 

"I freaking love Set It Off!" said Amy. "You know what? I'm sure Mom won't care... too much. I wanna see this band of yours."

"Cool," KJ said. "Does the boy wanna come, too?" 

"Eh, I better get home," Philip replied. 

"True, true," Amy said. "Someone has to deal with Mom's rant about how I shouldn't go off with strangers." 

"I'll be sure to save a vast majority of it for you when you get back," Philip said. 

"You magnificent bastard."

* * *

After a while of driving through town, KJ's car pulled up in front of a yellow house. The garage door was closed, but another door leading into the garage was unlocked. KJ walked in, followed by Natalie and Amy. 

The walls were lined with soundproof padding with two amps set up in the back along with a drumset. A keyboard and guitar were also strewn out on the floor near a stand-up microphone. 

A young man with brown hair styled in a faux hawk and a lean, muscular build covered by a black T-shirt greeted KJ as he set down a white guitar. 

"Yo, KJ. Hey, Natalie," he said. Eyeing Amy, he asked, "Who's the new one?" 

"This is Amy," KJ replied. "She's in Natalie's class. She wanted to see us practice. Amy, this is Ben, our rhythm guitarist."

"Nice guitar," Amy said, placing a hand on the white guitar he'd set down and examining it. "Looks pretty vintage." 

"It is," Ben said. "It was my uncle's. He was rhythm guitarist, too. Don't remember what the band was called, but I think it was something stupid." 

"What's your band called?" Amy asked. 

"Ghost with a Shadow," Ben answered with a proud smile. "I actually thought of the name. See, I was watching this old TV show, and a character in it died and her ghost was on screen. But they didn't edit out the actress' shadow. And I thought, 'Ghost with a Shadow.' That's a cool band name." 

"Edgy," Amy said. 

"Anyway, we'll probably get started once Evan and Lizzy get here," KJ said. "They're probably on a snack run." 

"Snack run indeed," a new voice with a thick Australian accent said. A boy with dark red hair covered by a beanie clad in a green leather jacket walked in alongside a girl with messy short blonde hair in a blue tank top. "They were all out of barbecue chips, so we got ranch flavor instead." 

"Ranch?" the girl asked. "I told you to grab the sour cream and onion, dumbass." 

"Well, I grabbed ranch. Deal with it." He opened the bag and shoved one of the chips in his mouth. 

"That's our lead singer and lead guitarist, Evan," KJ said to Amy. "And the girl is our keyboard player, Lizzy." 

"Yo, I'm Amy," Amy said to them. "I like a bit of harmonic noise once in a while." 

"Well, I wouldn't call us harmonic, but we sure do make noise," said Lizzy, putting the strap of her keyboard around her neck. 

"So, is that all of you?" asked Amy. "No bassist?"

"We've been trying to look for a bassist ever since our last one got kicked out," Evan responded. 

"Little bastard!" Ben suddenly shouted, tightening his grip on his guitar. "We should have never trusted him! I never felt so betrayed in my life before I met that seedy, snakey, self-absorbed motherf-" 

"Easy," Evan cut him off. "Anyway, we've had no luck, though, so we've just been going without a bassist. Doesn't sound very good, but it's not like we've been doing gigs since he's been out, so who's gonna know?" 

A large grin fell over Amy's face as she looked at the band with a mirthful glint in her eyes. 

"Hm, that smile looks promising," Evan said. "You know a good bassist?" 

"You're _looking_ at a good bassist," Amy replied, sticking her head up proudly. "I've been learning and playing bass guitar since I was ten." 

Evan stepped closer to her, looking her dead in the eyes. "Do you truly think you can match the sheer intensity and awe-inspiring rock and roll power of Ghost with a Shadow?" 

"Oh, I know I can, Aussie boy," Amy said back, matching his intense eye contact. "My question is, do you guys match the sheer intensity and awe-inspiring rock and roll power of Amy Morgendorffer-Lane?" 

"A confident one," Evan said with a smile. He stepped back in front of the microphone, turning it on and setting up his guitar. "Well, I guess there's only one way to answer your question." 

After some quiet conferring between the band members, he looked back at Amy. "We'll start you off with a cover." 

With that, KJ tapped his drumsticks together and the group began to play a song that Amy instantly recognized. 

_"My heart is on my sleeve_  
_Wear it like a bruise or black eye_  
_My badge my witness_  
_Means that I believed_  
_Every single lie you said!"_

Amy smiled and nodded to the beat as the group continued playing _Chicago is So Two Years Ago,_ hitting every note perfectly and far more aggressively than what the original band had ever done. It sounded strange without a bass, but still good. 

"So, what do you think, mate?" asked Evan after they had finished the song. "Are we good enough for the likes of you?" 

"I certainly think so," Amy replied with a smirk. 

"Then come to practice on Friday," Evan said. "KJ's house. You can just ride with Nat and KJ. Bring your bass. We'll see if you're worthy enough for us." 

Amy's smirk became a smile.

* * *

After being dropped off in front of her house by KJ, Amy walked through the door to see Jane in front of the door glaring at her. 

"So, your brother says you were riding off with strangers without my permission to watch them play in some band. Is that right?" 

Amy sighed. "It wasn't strangers, Mom. It was our friend Natalie and her older brother. You know, Natalie. Philip's love interest." 

Jane's look softened a bit. "Well... alright then. But I'm still upset that you didn't ask me or your father for permission." 

"Would you be less upset if I told you that I might be their new bassist?" 

Jane's angry look immediately faded as she began beaming. "My daughter? A bassist in a band? Oh, my god. Your uncle Trent needs to hear about this." She ran over to the kitchen as she pulled out her cellphone. 

"I'll take that as a yes," Amy said. 

"Bassist in a band," Philip said, walking in from the kitchen with a glass of juice. "Is that for real, or were you just trying to distract Mom?" 

"Well, it's not official quite yet," replied Amy, "but they do need a bassist, and when I said I could play, they told me to come to their next practice with my guitar." 

"Wow. Mind if I tag along for support?" 

"I'd love that. Especially since it's gonna be at Natalie's place." Amy smiled and walked away as her brother's eyes grew wide.

* * *

The Thompsons' garage was a bit smaller than Ben's, but still had plenty of room for all the band's equipment and was lined with the same soundproof padding. To Amy's surprise, two little girls were sitting in the garage, staring with wide smiles at KJ.

KJ smiled delicately at them. "No, you can't watch us practice." 

Both girls frowned and walked back towards the door to the house together, looking down and dragging their feet across the floor. 

"I'll make you some blueberry banana smoothies when we're done!" he called to them. 

The girls shot their heads up and looked back at him with a smile. "Thanks, KJ!" they yelled simultaneously. They both ran back into the house and one of them kicked the door shut. 

"Those two would be Jessica and Eva, my two little sisters who do everything together and see me and Natalie as holy deities and Trevor as their personal chew toy," KJ said. "You might wanna get used to them. They do that every time we practice here." 

"I'd pay to see their use of Trevor as a chew toy," said Philip. Natalie laughed at the remark, which made Philip smile and blush. 

"It can sometimes be amusing to watch," KJ said. "Oop, here come the others." 

Amy held up her bass guitar with a huge grin on her face as they walked into the garage. It was black with a deep purple lightning bolt design striking through the center. 

"This is Marco," she said, lovingly stroking the body of the guitar. "My uncle gave him to me for my tenth birthday. I've been shredding him whenever I possibly can since." 

"Well, let's hope you can shred him today, too," Evan said. "First of all, background check. Tell me a bit about yourself." 

"Well, it all started in 1981, when my father was born in the vast and dangerous deserts of suburban Texas," Amy said with a faraway look in her eyes.

"Um, you're going back too far, mate," said Evan with a bemused expression. "Where are you from? How'd you get into music? What's your experience with it?" 

"Pssh, I'd have gotten to that eventually," Amy said. "But, uh, I'm from New York City. SoHo, to be specific. My mom's an artist." 

"And you downgraded from New York City to Yawndale?" 

Amy laughed. "My parents used to live here. Can't say they were too thrilled to move back, but some stuff happened with my grandpa Jake over the summer, and uh, yea. Here we are."

"Well, that sucks, but hopefully it's not too terrible around here. Anyway, go on." 

"Well, I got my musical upbringing from my uncle Trent. He used to be in a garage band back in the 90's, but that didn't go anywhere." Amy frowned when she realized how disappointing that probably sounded. "I mean, um, he's in another band now, and I guess it's doing _somewhat_ better..." _Gah, damnit._

Surprisingly, though, Evan didn't look displeased or unimpressed. "I know how that feels," he said. "Sometimes, people just can't find success in this day and age, no matter how good they are." 

"Yea," Ben chimed in. "My uncle's old band never found any success, either. My dad still has some of their old demo tapes, though, and they were rockin'. Well, instrumentally, anyway. Lyrically..." 

"We get it, Ben," Evan said. "So, anyway, your uncle taught you music. Let's see how good a job he did." 

Amy smiled and strapped the guitar on, pulling a silver pick out of her pocket. After a few seconds of preparation, she began to play the bassline of _Chicago is So Two Years Ago,_ the same song the band had been playing at the previous practice. Each note rang out perfectly as Amy got more and more into playing, closing her eyes as her fingers effortlessly jumped across the neck of the guitar and her pick slid across the strings. 

The entire band, along with Philip and Amy, gave her a round of applause after she finished. She gladly absorbed the praise and took a bow. 

"Impressive," Evan said. "Well, I don't think it's any question. You're in." 

"Hell yea," Amy said, pumping her fist. 

"So, can you do anything else musically?" asked KJ. 

"I can sing pretty good," Amy replied. "And I played the trombone in elementary school band, but I doubt that matters." 

"Sing..." Evan thought for a moment. "I hope you're right. I've always wanted to do a song with a female vocalist." 

Amy smiled and joined the rest of the band as everyone got into position. Philip sat on the ground next to Natalie. 

"So, you happy that your sister's in the band?" she asked. 

Philip smiled at her and nodded, attempting to hide his horror at the realization that he would be sitting next to her until practice was over. 

"I remember when KJ tried out for the band," Natalie said. "That was, like, a year ago. Before he and Ben came along, it was just Evan and Lizzy playing Manic Street Preachers covers. Then Ben introduced them to 2000's pop punk and showed them how to write a melody, and KJ started writing lyrics." 

Philip simply continued to smile and nod as she explained. 

"You don't talk much, do you?" 

Philip shook his head and shrugged, still retaining his smile.

* * *

The next Monday at school, KJ and Ben flagged down Amy as she walked into the cafeteria. She walked over to them and followed them outside to the quad. 

"We usually sit out here to eat lunch," KJ said. "Well, when it's not snowy or rainy anyway. We figured since you're officially part of the band now, you could sit with us." 

"Fall into the usual trap of ditching my usual group of friends for my bandmates, ultimately forgetting about them as the fame goes to my head and only ever acknowledging them if I want money or need to be bailed out of prison? Sounds good to me." 

"Now, come on, Natalie's my little sister. I wouldn't want to take away any of her friends. Or take you away from your brother and cousin. We just figure you can sit with us once in a while." 

"Well, in that case, lead the way." 

The three walked over to an area near a tree and sat down cross-legged. The boys pulled out their lunches, offering some of their food to Amy, which she gladly took. 

"So, where are the other two?" she asked after swallowing a handful of chips. 

"Evan and Lizzy both go to Fielding Prep," Ben answered. "Both part of their international program, fun fact. Lizzy is from Toronto and Evan, as you can tell, is from Australia. Melbourne, specifically. They both freaking hate it there. They actually started the band playing Manic Street Preachers covers as a rebellion against the school's biased crap about 'refined taste and culture' or whatever. Then we met them at some gig at the Zon, and they invited us into their little band. Did I tell you how I came up with the name 'Ghost with a Shadow'? I was watching TV-" 

"You told me," Amy said.

* * *

As Amy walked into German class that day, Tommy walked up to her and followed her into the room. 

"So, Teddy told me that you're now the bassist for that band that Kevin Thompson Jr. is in," he said. 

"Kevin Thompson Jr.?" Amy repeated with confusion. 

"Or, I suppose people call him 'KJ'. Guess I can't blame him for not necessarily wanting to go by his intellectually challenged father's name, though."

"Oh. Then yea." 

"Congratulations, I suppose." 

"_Hallo,_ Amy," the teacher greeted, breaking their conversation. "Hallo, Tommy." 

"Hallo, Frau Livingston," Amy greeted back. 

"So, what's this I hear about a band?" Frau Livingston asked. "I was in a band once. Ooh! I should bring one of our old demo tapes and play it in class tomorrow!" 

"Um, please don't," Tommy said. 

Frau Livingston chuckled, but then looked sad about what he said for a few moments. She lost the sad look, however, as she continued talking to Amy. "So, you're in a band now?" 

"Ooh, Amy's in a band?" 

Amy turned around to see several of her classmates gathering behind her. All of them were asking several things at once. 

"What kind of music do you play?" 

"What band is it?" 

"Can you write a song for me?" 

"Ghost with a Shadow," Amy replied. "I'm the bassist and female vocalist for them." 

"Ghost with a Shadow?" The crowd's interest suddenly turned to discomfort and disappointment. They muttered amongst themselves before walking to their desks. 

"Well, they seemed friendly," Amy muttered as she walked to her desk. 

"Eh, don't take it personal," Tommy said. "It's just that a lot of people here aren't a huge fan of... _that_ type of music." 

"Good thing I don't give a damn about what other people think, huh?" 

"You really have always worn that trait like a badge of honor, haven't you?" 

Amy glared at him as the backhanded compliment sunk in.

* * *

Later that day, Amy came home from band practice. After putting her guitar back in her room, she walked down to the dining room where the rest of her family was already sitting with their dinner. 

"Yo, parentals," she said as she sat down. "And brother." 

"Hi, Amy," Philip said. 

"So, how's band life been treating you?" Daria asked, looking ahead at her daughter. 

"Amazing," replied Amy. "The band having a bassist is getting them to do gigs again, and we actually managed to get one Saturday night. Apparently, the band that was originally playing cancelled and we were the only ones they could find as a replacement." 

"Lucky you," Daria said. "Where's this gig at?" 

"The Zon." 

Jane shot her head up. "You're playing a gig at the Zon?"

"What's the matter?" 

"You know, when your father and I were in high school, that was the seediest club around. I'm surprised our parents even let us go there." 

"Calm down, Jane," Daria said. "We were always fine there." 

"Yea, because Trent was there, and he always kept an eye on us," Jane said. "But a bunch of high schoolers?" 

Daria sighed. "Your mom does have a point, Amy." 

Amy sighed. "Tell you what. You can come and keep an eye on us, but you need to promise me that you'll stay in the back, out of sight, and not draw any attention to yourselves as being my parents." 

"Deal," Jane said. 

"Promise?" Amy said again. 

"Staying in the back, out of sight, and not drawing attention to ourselves is what we do best," said Daria.

* * *

That Saturday, the Zon was filled with several people, ranging from punks in garish clothing who wouldn't have looked out of place in the club 20 years before to emo kids wearing beanies and all black. 

Daria and Jane, as promised, stood in the back with Philip standing near them drinking a soda. After the band finished setting up on stage and taking their positions, Evan tapped the microphone. 

"How's everybody feeling tonight?" he asked. 

Everyone in the club loudly cheered and applauded, showing much more enthusiasm than what Daria and Jane had ever seen for a garage band. 

"I guess people really like these guys," Philip said. 

"Yea," Jane responded. "Trent wishes he got this much cheering and screaming." 

"Did you miss us?" Evan continued onstage. This led to another wave of cheering and applause. 

"Well, great," Evan said. "Because after a four month hiatus, we are back, and with a new bassist. Please welcome Amy Morgendorffer-Lane!" 

Amy came forward on the stage and took a bow, soaking in the further applause and cheering she received upon her introduction. She stepped back into position as it faded and Evan continued speaking. 

"People of Lawndale, we are Ghost with a Shadow!" 

The band immediately began playing an original song, with all three guitars carrying the song, the keyboard providing a pleasing melody, and the drums beating away to the song. 

_"We're back, yea_  
_Comin' back, yea_  
_Didn't go nowhere forever, no!"_

Evan's voice was deep, almost a growl, as he sang. To contrast, as Amy joined in, her voice was much higher, but still equally strong and powerful. 

_"We're here now_  
_Coming near now_  
_You can never forget our faces, no!"_

"Well, they're a _little_ bit better at lyrics than Mystik Spiral was," Jane said to Daria. 

"Well, that bar's not high," Daria said back. 

"Amy says they have better stuff," Philip said. "They just wanted a cool comeback song and only had this week to write it." 

Jane shrugged. "Makes sense, I suppose." 

After the first set was over and the band took their break, Amy was beaming with pure excitement and joy as she sprinted towards Daria, Jane, and Philip and pulled them all into an embrace. 

"You did great, honey," Jane said with a smile. 

Daria nodded, also smiling. "We're proud of you." After a beat, though, her smile turned to a look of confusion. "But didn't you say we had to stay out of sight? Because this little display of affection kind of erases the purpose, doesn't it?" 

Amy's eyes snapped wide open. She slowly and awkwardly broke off from the hug before turning and bolting to where the rest of the band was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Had to have high, high hope for a living_   
_Shooting for the stars when I couldn't make a killing_   
_Didn't have a dime, but I always had a vision_   
_Always had high, high hopes_
> 
> _Had to have high, high hopes for a living_  
_Didn't know how, but I always had a feeling_  
_I was gonna be that one in a million_  
_Always had high, high hopes_  
-High Hopes, Panic! at the Disco 
> 
> (By the way, Evan's story on how he came up with the band is true, except it was me and I didn't use it for an actual band name, I used it for this.)


	3. Dronecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's homecoming week at Lawndale High, which means it's time for three lustful girls to go after their three prince charmings (or at least try to), with Philip's unwilling help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double feature today! Two episodes in one day. Reason being, this one was supposed to be done last week, but I decided that it sucked so I rewrote it. And I figured since I managed to get both this one and today's planned episode done, I'd post em both so I didn't fall behind. 
> 
> Now, some aspects of this episode are based off of my own experience with homecoming including the competitions and the incoherent trivia questions. I dunno if that's how all schools are during hoco, but it's how mine is and I thought it'd be funny to put these characters in those situations. This all said, enjoy!

"Hello, students of Lawndale High. It is officially the beginning of homecoming week. Be sure to sign up for activities and win your class some points for that homecoming spirit! The winning class will be revealed at the pep rally on Friday, and be sure to buy tickets to the game on Friday and the dance on Saturday. Have fun and may the odds be with you all!" 

A shark's grin spread across Amy's face as Mr. MacMorris spoke over the intercom. "Competition, huh?" 

"I don't like the looks of that smile," Natalie said with an uneasy look. 

"You shouldn't," Teddy said with a knowing expression. 

"Nope." Philip nodded. "You may not want to sign up for any activity she is also doing." 

"That's not an issue unless she's doing the trivia contest," Natalie said. "That's what me and Teddy are doing." 

"Not really gonna participate, though," added Teddy. "We're only signing up because last year, we didn't sign up for anything, and, well..."

* * *

_"Mister Morgendorffer and Miss Thompson," Mr. MacMorris began, a stern look on his face._

_"Are we in trouble or something?" asked Natalie._

_Mr. MacMorris shook his head. "I just noticed that you two are the only freshmen who didn't sign up for any activities, and I want to make sure you both have just as much zippity zappity homecoming fun as everyone else." His stern look turned to a goofy smile as he talked._

_He grabbed a stack of board games from under his desk. "Do you guys play Clue?"_

_Teddy and Natalie shot each other nervous glances._

* * *

"Mr. MacMorris takes Candyland very seriously," Natalie said, a distant look in her eyes.

"Psssh, that's lame," Amy said, cracking her knuckles. "Competition is fun." Jogging up to the bulletin board with activity sign-up sheets on it, she asked, "Now, which one of these is the most intense?" 

Trevor peered over at her from nearby and smiled. "Oh, that would be competitions happening in the gym." 

"Uh, Trevor?" Philip said quietly to him. "Saying this as Amy's brother that's grown up with her for his whole life, you may not want to disclose this information with her. She gets dangerously competitive. We had family game night at my grandparents' house once. Once." 

"Was that the time Grandpa Jake ended up locking himself in the bathroom?" asked Teddy. 

Trevor ignored both of them as he continued speaking to Amy. "If you wanna sign up for that, though, I warn you, I'm pretty good. I think it's safe to say that the freshies are gonna-" 

"Are you challenging me?" Amy loudly asked, a menacing tone to her voice. "I will colossally kick your ass, Trevor Thompson! Colossally. Kick. Your. ASS!" 

She swiped a pen from the board and wrote her name on the sheet labelled _Sophomore Vitality Competitions- Gym_ in a messy scrawl before storming away. 

Trevor blinked in surprise before slowly turning to Philip. "Anyway..." He smiled once again. "Philip, my man. Our class has pretty solid people on everything except for the banner. I've seen you draw in class, and you're pretty good. Whatcha say?" 

"Um..." Philip began. 

"Great!" Trevor grabbed a pen. "I'll write your name for you." He looked at the board thoughtfully. "Now, what's your last name again? Morgenforf- no, Morgendop- no, that's not it..." 

Philip sighed and grabbed the pen. "Just let me do it."

* * *

The competitions began at 2:30, the schedule for all of the classes being adjusted accordingly. When the time came, Philip walked to the art room and went over to the table marked down for freshmen. 

The Ice Dragons stood next to the table, dispassionately playing on their phones. Hayley, however, spotted Philip and whispered to the other girls, followed by all three walking up to him. 

"Hello, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane," Hayley said with a cold tone in her voice. 

"Hello... Hayley Mertz," Philip hesitantly said back. 

"Don't say my last name!" 

"Sorry!" Philip squeaked, putting his hands up. 

"Now, anyway, we have an objective this week," Hayley said. "An objective which you may be able to assist us with." 

"What kind of objective?" Philip asked. 

"Well, we noticed that part of your last name aligns with the last name of the TM3," Hayley answered. "Are you related to or affiliated with them in any way, shape, or form?" 

"I'm gonna regret this," Philip muttered under his breath to himself before answering more loudly, "They're my cousins." 

Hayley smiled. "I see..." 

"Yep, definitely regret it," Philip quietly mumbled. 

"So, if you are the cousin of the TM3, they're likely to trust your opinion, yes?" Hayley asked. 

"Yea, will they, like, listen to you and stuff?" Izzy asked. 

"Let me do the talking, Izzy," Hayley said, raising the back of her hand in front of Izzy's face and prompting her to back away. 

"I guess they trust my opinion," Philip said with a shrug. "Teddy has been having me proofread his stories and essays since I moved here." 

"So, let's say you were to tell them a certain three beautiful and popular girls were suitable mates for them and would be a great option to take to the homecoming dance." 

"Oh, god..." Philip whispered to himself. 

"Would they trust your opinion on that?" 

Philip sighed and hesitated for a few moments. "I... guess?" 

"Well, would you be willing to vouch for us as suitable homecoming dates?" 

"Well, maybe, but first of all, Teddy doesn't even-" 

"Great!" The girls walked away, leaving Philip groaning to himself.

* * *

Four areas were set up on one side of the gym each having a gym mat, two scooters, and a sign marking down which class each area was for. 

Amy stood in the sophomore area, jogging in place and intensely scoping out the other competition. She smiled as Timmy walked up to the area. 

"Wassup, Timmy?" she said, giving him a slap on the back. 

"Um, hey, Amy," he said awkwardly. "What are you doing here?" 

"Winning." 

Timmy nervously smiled and backed away from her before walking over to the freshman section where Trevor was standing. 

"Hey, Trev," he greeted. 

"Yo, Timmy," Trevor said back with a smile. "First homecoming competition, and I can already tell I'm gonna beat you." 

"Maybe, but I dominated this competition last year." Timmy folded his arms and smiled proudly. 

"And we'll dominate it again, you overripe tomato!" Amy shouted from the sophomore area. "Now get back over here, Timmy, and stop fraternizing with the enemy!" 

"Um, ok..." Timmy walked back as a stocky man in a sweaty blue T-shirt and a red baseball cap to cover his thinning hair came to the center of the gym. 

"Hello, hello, to all competitors and spectators," he said into his microphone. "Most of you know me already, but if you don't, I'm Mr. Finster, the gym teacher and football coach. I'll be running this here competition." 

Motioning to the side of the gym the competitors were standing on with their mats and scooters, he continued. "Today's competition will be the mat races. The scooters will go under the mat and two people from each team will sit on the mat while the others push them. First team to get to the other side of the gym wins."

He held up a checkered flag. "Ready..." 

Amy shoved the other sophomores out of the way and rushed to shove the scooters under the mat with a crazed look in her eyes. 

"Set..." 

She leapt onto the front of the mat and pulled another random student with her to sit behind her. She shot a glare at the remaining people on her team, prompting them to get in position to push the mat. 

"Go!" 

"Move it, you blobs of fat! Move it! Move it! Move it!" Amy screamed as her teammates pushed the mat. Looking at a small, redheaded girl lagging behind, she yelled, "That means you, Lauren! Get behind the mat and push, damn you!" 

The girl squealed and helped the others on her team push.

* * *

The trivia competition was happening in the auditorium. A projector screen was set up in front of the stage with _Trivia Competition- Countries of the World_ written on it. Each seat in the auditorium had a remote attached to it with four buttons reading A, B, C, and D.

"Do you know anything about countries of the world?" Teddy asked. 

"Hm..." Natalie thought for a moment. "Canada is above us, Mexico is below us, Australia is 'down undah,' Brazil is somewhere in South America, and Italy is shaped like a boot." 

"Good enough." 

As they sat down, Frau Livingston walked up to the front of the stage with a smile. "Hello, everyone. In case you don't know, I am Miss, or, if you prefer, Frau Livingston, the German teacher. I will be running trivia today. The remotes should have the names and grades of everyone who signed up on them, and the class with the most correct answers to its name wins. That said, let's begin!" 

She went over to her laptop and the first question displayed on the screen. It showed an image of the German flag and a question below it which read, 

**What country?**  
**A. Germany!**   
**B. HOME**   
**C. cuban**   
**D. Agrenita**

"What is home?" Teddy whispered to Natalie. 

"What is Agrenita?" Natalie asked back. 

"Maybe German teachers should stop trying to write in English."

* * *

Amy sprinted out the front doors that day, fist pumping. "Guess who carried the sophomores to victory? I did, bitches!" 

Philip followed far behind her, sighing. Timmy walked nearby with a horrified, distant stare on his face. 

"What happened to you?" he asked. 

"Your sister," Timmy replied, glaring at him before walking to where his brothers were. 

"We gave you an objective, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane." 

Philip gasped and jumped before turning around to see the Ice Dragons. Hayley had her arms folded and an impatient scowl on her face. 

"Follow after your cousins who allegedly trust your opinion and talk us up," she said. 

"Um, ok," Philip said. _This isn't gonna go well._

He walked after the TM3, who were arguing, as was their wont. 

"I'll tell Mom to force you guys to come to the homecoming game," Timmy growled. 

"Mom's already gonna force us to come to the homecoming game, idiot," Teddy responded.

Philip shrugged and went back to the Ice Dragons. "They're discussing important matters. I shouldn't interrupt." 

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Fair enough. Let's go, girls." 

She and Izzy both walked away, but Abby continued to stand in front of him, nervously fidgeting her hands and looking down. 

"Can I help you?" asked Philip. 

Abby looked up and stopped fidgeting. "Um, when you talk us up, do you think you could specifically talk to Teddy about me?" 

"Uh, sure, I guess," Philip said with a shrug. 

"Abby! Come on!" Hayley shouted from the sidewalk. 

"Don't tell the others I told you that!" Abby said before running to where the others were.

* * *

"Ready for another kickass day of pure, sweet competition!" Amy shouted as she walked into school the next day. "How are you guys all doing?" 

"I don't think anybody has won trivia so far," answered Natalie. 

"Well, you do need to understand what the questions are asking to get any points," Teddy said. 

Amy grabbed both of their shirt collars with each hand and got up close to their faces. "You two idiots better win today, or so help me, I will oversee the destruction of both of you." She smiled. "'Kay?" 

Teddy and Natalie both nodded rapidly, their eyes wide. Amy dropped them and turned to Philip. "What about you, little bro? Bringing honor to our family with that banner?" 

"Yep, totally," Philip said with a smile, quickly nodding. 

"Good." Amy ruffled his hair and walked away. 

"Full disclosure, haven't even been able to do any actual work on the banner," said Philip. "The Ice Dragons kept on talking to me." 

"What would those shallow pedants want to do with you?" asked Teddy. 

"Well, actually, they wanted me to talk them up to you and your brothers so you'd ask them out to homecoming," Philip replied. 

"Nope," Teddy said flatly, raising his hands and walking away. 

"Thought so."

* * *

"So, did you talk to them, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane?" Hayley immediately asked Philip once he walked into the art room. When Philip nodded, she asked, "Well, what did they say?" 

"Um... They said they'd think about it," Philip replied, looking away from them and putting his hands in his pockets. 

"Good," Hayley said with a smile. "We thank you for your service, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane." 

"Yea, thanks," Izzy said. 

As they walked away, Abby once again lagged behind. "Did you do what I asked?" she whispered. 

Philip hesitated. He didn't want to keep up the lie with her. She seemed significantly sweeter than her two cohorts and was looking at Philip with a sweet, shy look in her eyes. 

"Oh, you forgot, didn't you?" Abby asked with a frown. 

"I'm sorry," Philip said, looking down. 

"No, no, it's fine," Abby said as she walked away with her head down. "He probably wouldn't want me anyway." 

Philip sadly sighed. _Poor girl. Doesn't help that she's probably right._ He tried to shake off his pity for her as he walked over to the poster, which so far only had _Freshmen win!!!_ written on it in stylized bubble letters, making him cringe. _But for now, I've got a lot of work to do._

* * *

"Come on, guys! We can stack these cups! Stack 'em high, stack 'em tall! Don't you mess this up for us!" Amy was yelling as she stacked cups with the other sophomores. Getting up in the redheaded girl's face, she growled, "Lookin' at you, Lauren." 

The girl meekly nodded and stacked cups along with her. Amy smiled and nodded. "Good girl." 

"Uh, Amy, I think you're taking this too seriously," Timmy said. 

"I think you're not taking it seriously enough!" Amy yelled back at him. "Now stack, boy, stack!" 

Timmy flinched at her shouts and stacked more cups.

* * *

**What is Kit Kats made of?**   
**A. Cookie**  
**B. Caramel and cookie**  
**C. jimmy**   
**D. More Kit Kats**

"My money's on Jimmy," Natalie said flatly. 

"Who the hell wrote this?" Teddy asked, shaking his head.

* * *

At lunch the next day, the Ice Dragons sat together. 

"Well, girls, if Philip Morgendorffer-Lane truly followed through for us, we should be in the clear," Hayley said. "Now, we need to choose a course of action: Go to them, or wait for them to come to us?" 

"Well, if we go to them, we'll make it clear that we really want them," Abby said. 

"Are you implying that we should look desperate, Abby?" asked Hayley with a glare. 

"No, I was just-" 

"We wait for them come to us. Understand?" 

"But what if, like, they don't?" Izzy asked. 

Hayley scoffed in response. "They will. Trust me." Looking at the table in the corner, she narrowed her eyes and added, "And if they don't, I'm going to ruin him."

* * *

Philip folded his arms and smiled at the banner on the table. It was colored with blue and yellow colored pencils with the _Freshmen Win!!!_ more refined and colored red. It had a detailed drawing of a lion with its claws out leaping out of the poster, courtesy of him, colored with markers. 

"There is no way this isn't going to win," he said with a smile. 

"You've truly outdone yourself, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane," Hayley said with a smile. 

"Yea, good job," Izzy added. 

"Now, anyway, back to your objective," Hayley said, her smile fading.

Philip held back a sigh as his smile faded as well. "Uh, yea?" 

"When do you think the TM3 will ask us out?"

Philip thought for a moment. "Why don't you ask them out?" 

"That's what I said!" Abby said, poking her head up from behind Hayley. 

"Don't interrupt this conversation, Abby," Hayley said, turning her head to Abby with a scowl. 

"Sorry!" Abby stepped back.

Hayley turned back to Philip. "Why do you propose we ask them out?" 

"Because, um... guys find it hot?" Philip answered, turning his eyes elsewhere. 

"Hmm..." Hayley thought for a moment. "I suppose you are a guy, so I can trust your opinion in those regards." She turned to the other Ice Dragons. "Let's ask them after school then." 

The other Ice Dragons nodded and walked away. Philip grimaced and sighed. _This is not gonna go well._

* * *

Amy had her hands curled up in fists as she walked out of school that day with an angry frown. 

Jogging to catch up with her, Philip asked, "What's the matter?" 

"Freaking Lauren ended up making us lose the popsicle eating competition," Amy muttered in reply. 

"Uh, that's so sad," Philip said, feigning a sympathetic tone. 

"I know!" Amy screamed. "Guhhh... I need to go hit something." 

Philip looked around the front area of the school and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the Ice Dragons talking to the TM3. All three brothers looked annoyed as he slowly came closer. 

"This is bad," Philip quietly said to himself. His eyes widened as he saw all six of the people he was observing suddenly stare daggers at him. Taking the hint, he sprinted to catch up to his sister and practically leapt into his mother's car.

"Hey, kids," Jane greeted. 

"Drive!" Philip shouted, looking out the window to see the Ice Dragons approach the car. "Drive away! Now!" 

Jane looked confused, but followed his instructions and drove off nonetheless, luckily long before the Ice Dragons could reach her car. Philip sighed in relief. 

"What did you do to piss those losers off?" asked Amy. 

"They roped me into being their wingman to ask the TM3 out," Philip replied. "And now, all involved are mad at me, I think." 

"Don't worry about it," Amy said, waving her hand dismissively. "The TM3 won't stay mad at you forever, especially if they know you were roped into it. And what are the Ice Dragons gonna do? Pelt you with their makeup collection?" 

"These Ice Dragons kinda remind me of a crowd your aunt Quinn hung around," Jane said. "And those idiots were all bark and no bite." 

"I suppose..." Philip said, his unease shrinking.

* * *

As expected, the moment Philip walked into science that day, the Ice Dragons swarmed around him. 

"You deceived us!" Hayley shouted, stomping hard on his foot. "You lied to us!" She stomped on his foot once again, even harder. "You _failed_ us!" She shoved him against the doorway, sending him stumbling backwards into the hall. 

"Whoa, whoa, ladies, what is going on?" Mr. Stevenson asked, walking over to the group. "Stop pushing him around. Go to your tables." 

Hayley glared at him with a killer look as she stormed back over to the table along with the other two. Philip sheepishly smiled and sat at his own table next to Trevor. 

"Bro, what did you do?" Trevor asked, grimacing at the Ice Dragons' furious faces. 

"Homecoming dance stuff," Philip replied. 

"Wait, did you try to ask them out?" 

"Um, no," Philip replied. "They did, however, force me into setting them up with my cousins, which did not work." 

"Oh," said Trevor. He turned to the Ice Dragons and flashed them his best attempt at a charming smile. "You know, ladies, I'm always available." 

Hayley simply glared at him while Izzy flatly responded, "No thanks, Terry." 

"It's Trevor!"

* * *

All three of the TM3 stood with their arms crossed in Philip's path as he walked into the cafeteria. 

Already knowing what they were confronting him about, Philip raised his hands and said, "They made me do it. I wouldn't willingly do anything for them, especially involving members of my family." 

The brothers' looks softened and they whispered to each other before Tommy spoke. "All is forgiven." 

"And now that we've achieved our goal, we shall now go back to the ceaseless bickering that has molded our lives for years," Teddy added with a declarative finger. 

"Indeed," Tommy said with a nod before walking away. 

"Of course," Timmy said. Before he walked away, he added, "Bastards!" 

"So, anyway," began Philip as he walked to the table with Teddy, "I am not going to the art room for activities today. Mind if I ditch and join you and Natalie in trivia?" 

"Nah, it's fine," Teddy answered. "We're dragging Amy there, too. I'm afraid she may break someone's limbs if she does the gym activities again." 

"Fair enough."

* * *

**Which one of these countries is a part of the European Union?**  
**A. HOME**   
**B. Norway**   
**C. France**   
**D. Cube**

"Well, it's somewhat more coherent this time," Teddy said. 

"What exactly is 'home'?" Philip asked. 

"It's a mystery," replied Teddy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Die, die, you zombie bastards!_   
_We know what you want_   
_Die, die, you zombie bastards!_   
_Keep on blah, blah, blah_
> 
> _We could go up, we could go down_  
_We gon' run you out of town_  
_We could go up, we could go down_  
_We'll be seein' you around_  
-Zombie Bastards, Weezer


	4. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two new arrivals appear in Lawndale: Famous stock car racer Stacy Rowe, and obscure musician Trent Lane. Both arrivals lead to a strange day of reunions and old ties coming to light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second of the double feature. This one's meant to be a "Where are they now?" type of thing. Trent's present day life is based off of "Daria- 20 Years Later", Stacy's on the end credits of IICY?, and everyone else's on my own creation. Enjoy!

_Welcome back to Lawndale, Stacy Rowe!_

The message was written in blue on a yellow banner and being hung across the main hallway of the school as the kids walked under it. 

"Who the hell is Stacy Rowe and why is she so important?" asked Amy. 

"She's big in the stock car racing scene," Natalie replied. "She won the New England Grand Prix five years in a row." 

"I'm surprised you two have never heard of her," Teddy said. "Not that I expect you to enjoy stock car racing, but she was also in my mom's class here at Lawndale, hence why she's coming here again. They were, like, best friends." 

"Excuse me for not paying attention to my aunt's past social circles," Amy said. 

"Well, she's staying at my place while she's here to reconnect with my mom and is visiting the school every day," continued Teddy. "Timmy's been bragging like crazy about it to the football team." 

"Well, I guess that makes two masterful reunions," said Amy. "Our uncle is visiting from New York for a week." 

"A blast from the past all around," Natalie said.

* * *

Quinn smiled brightly at the table she had just set up. It was perfect for the visitor who was going to be arriving any moment. 

"A table truly fit for a queen," Teddy said as he walked in with the other two triplets. 

"No less for my best friend of over twenty years," Quinn responded. "Now, do you boys promise to be on your best behavior?" 

All three brothers absently nodded. 

"I mean it, boys," Quinn said sternly. "If the slightest mishap occurs because of you three and your bickering, you're all banished to your rooms for the whole week. Understand?" 

The boys nodded once again, making sure they were a bit more convincing this time. 

"Great." 

The doorbell rang after Quinn spoke, prompting her to run to the door. "There she is!" 

She opened the door to see a woman with long brown hair tied into a ponytail wearing a blue leather jacket over a black T-shirt and black pants. 

"Stacy!" Quinn wrapped her friend in an embrace which she returned. 

"Oh, my god, Quinn, it's been forever!" Stacy said, beaming. "How are you? How's life? What's been going on?" 

"Well, _S'mores and Pores_ recently hit its 100K milestone," replied Quinn, breaking off from the hug. 

"Oh, yea! We should do a collab."

"Totally! I ordered a mold for racecar-shaped gummy candy recently. Or, even better: Best way to avoid helmet hair." 

"Why not both?" 

"True!" 

Timmy had been peeking in on the conversation the whole time, and as Quinn and Stacy walked towards the kitchen, he shuffled out in front of them with a smile. "Hey, Ms. Rowe." 

"Please, call me Stacy," Stacy said back. "You're Timmy, right?" 

"Yep." 

Stacy chuckled. "When you were little, I couldn't even tell you boys apart. I could tell it's you by the varsity jacket, though. Your mom's been telling me all about the sporty stuff you do." 

This made Timmy's smile grow even wider as the three walked into the kitchen. Stacy turned back to Quinn. 

"How are your other boys doing?" 

"Tommy and Teddy are both still straight-A students," replied Quinn. "And Teddy's been getting less 'antisocial' complaints since my niece and nephew have been at school with him." 

"Oh, your sister and her family moved here? That's surprising." 

"Yea, but after Dad's most recent heart attack..." 

"Oh, yea, I totally get it. You should give me their address. I haven't seen Daria or Jane in years, and I don't think I've ever met their kids. I always knew they were meant for each other, you know?" 

"Oh, yea, for sure. But anyway, that's all that's happening in my life. What's going on with you?" 

Stacy thought for a moment. "Well, the races have been going well. Got second at my most recent. Oh, yea, and Tiffany actually gave me a call."

"Hm, where's she been?" 

"She lives in Boston with her husband. Pretty well off. Their house is practically a mansion!"

Quinn smiled. "Nothing less for Princess Blum-Deckler, huh?" 

Stacy also smiled and shook her head. 

"So, have you heard anything from The Forbidden?" Quinn asked. 

Stacy shook her head once again, her smile fading. "Still total radio silence. I know she still lives here, but that's it. Didn't even bother to contact me when it was made public that I was coming back." 

"Figures," Quinn said, rolling her eyes. "The incident at graduation was almost, like, 20 years ago. You'd think she'd have gotten over it by now. You know what she's up to nowadays?" 

"Just that she has a husband. Scott Steckler is his name. And they have a kid who goes to Grove Hills." 

"Probably paying a lump sum to get her there, too. No way San- ahem, _she who mustn't be named_ could spawn anything with enough intelligence to get there by those means." 

After some bitter silence, Quinn piped up again with a smile. "Anyway, dinner?"

* * *

In another house in Lawndale, Amy paced around in front of the door, occasionally looking out for her uncle's vehicle.

"A watched pot doesn't boil any faster," Daria said, joining her daughter in front of the door. 

"Where is he?" asked Amy. "He said he'd be here at five." 

"It's 5:01, sweetheart." 

Amy simply cried out impatiently in response. 

"Look, you know how Trent likes to be fashionably late sometimes. He'll be here. Why don't you come help me and your mom set the table?" 

"Fiiiine..." Amy whined and followed her father to the kitchen. 

"Eager beaver, huh?" Jane asked as they walked in. "If it's any consolation, Trent's very excited to see you, too." 

"Pssh, of course he is," Amy said with a half-smile, folding her arms. 

Just then, a knock was heard at the door. Amy jerked her head back towards the living room and shot off like a rocket to open the door, where a tall man with black hair, shaved in the back and spiked up front, and a fair bit of facial hair stood behind the door with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and a cool smile on his face.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite niece," Trent said. 

"Trent!" Amy wrapped her arms around him, lovingly burying her head in his jacket. "I've missed you!" 

"I've missed you, too, Ames." Trent returned the hug. 

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Jane said, joining the pair in the living room along with Daria. 

"Hey, Janey. Hey, Daria," Trent said. He and Amy released each other from their embrace and he walked over to his sister and sister-in-law. "Has it been alright back in Lawndale?" 

Jane shrugged in response. "It isn't killing us. Amy and Philip are doing ok in school, Daria's got her new job with the Lawndale news station, and the house is way nicer than Casa Lane." 

"I see that," Trent said, looking around. "Where is Philip anyway?" 

"Eh, probably drawing in his room," Jane replied. Calling up the stairs, she yelled, "Philip! Uncle Trent is here!" 

It didn't take long for Philip to come down the stairs, smiling as he saw the new arrival. 

"Hey, little buddy," greeted Trent. "The band loved the design you made for us, by the way." 

"I know," Philip said, sticking his head up proudly. "Xander already emailed me and told me." 

"No one but you ever personally complimented me when I drew designs for Mystik Spiral," Jane muttered, pretending to be offended. 

"Cause they probably sucked!" Amy shouted teasingly. 

"Half our income comes from my paintings selling for hundreds, young lady," Jane said with a smirk. 

"Anyways," continued Philip, "I also am working on some designs for Amy's band." 

"Oh, yea, you're in a band," Trent said with a proud smile. "I knew you'd be a real musician someday. When's your next practice? I wanna meet your band." 

"Tonorrow at our rhythm guitarist's place," Amy replied. "If you pick me up from school, I'll tell you how to get there." 

"Sounds great."

* * *

The moment Stacy entered the door along with the TM3 the next day, she was swarmed with attention from many students, mostly jocks. 

"It's such an honor to meet you, Ms. Rowe!" 

"Timmy, how did your mom get to know someone like her?" 

"Did you really make it out of a three-car pileup with just a broken arm?" 

"Kids! Kids! There will be plenty of time for questions later." Mr. MacMorris waved his arms to signal the kids to get out of the way. He then smiled as he walked up to Stacy. "It's a ding dang pleasure to have you here, Ms. Rowe! I'm Eugene MacMorris, principal of Lawndale High." 

"Pleasure to meet you," Stacy said, shaking his hand and attempting to force a smile through her confusion as she looked at his hot pink suit and tie with astronaut cats on it. 

Teddy sighed and walked up to his group of friends. "So that's Stacy Rowe, and that was her entourage of superfans." 

"That's gonna be interesting to deal with," Philip said. 

It wasn't long before Stacy stopped speaking with Mr. MacMorris and approached the group. "Hey, Teddy." Pointing to Philip and Amy, she asked, "Are those Daria's kids?" 

"Yea," replied Teddy. "Philip, Amy, meet my mom's old high school friend." 

"Pleasure," Philip said. 

"Yo," Amy said, raising her hand halfway. 

"And I'm not related to any of them, but I'm Natalie Thompson, Teddy's best friend," Natalie said. 

"Hmm..." Stacy thought for a moment. "Are you related to Kevin Thompson?" 

"He's my dad," Natalie replied. 

"Ah!" Stacy smiled. "I knew him in high school, too." She turned to Philip and Amy and said, "He'd have been in your parents' grade." 

"Wait, Mom and Dad knew Natalie's dad?" Philip asked, glancing at Amy with wide eyes. 

"Well, that's interesting information," Natalie said, staring blankly ahead. "They probably would have known my mom then, too. She and my dad were high school sweethearts." 

"Wait, your dad actually married Brittany Taylor?" Stacy asked.

Natalie nodded. "She might be here later. She's the cheerleading coach. You can talk to her if you want." 

"This is... really weird, Amy," Philip said. 

"I agree, Philip," Amy responded with a nod.

* * *

Amy was practically bouncing in the passenger's seat of Trent's car, a huge smile spread across her face. 

"Your band must be pretty good if you're this excited for me to meet them," Trent said. 

"We are!" shouted Amy in reply. "All the regulars at the Zon love us." 

"Hey, Mystik Spiral used to perform at the Zon a lot." 

"Yea, Mom and Dad told me." 

"Is it as, you know, grunge as it used to be?" 

"Well, people aren't really grunge anymore, but it is pretty emo." 

"Close enough." 

The car pulled into the driveway in front of Ben's house. When they walked into the garage, a tall, slender man with a short-trimmed beard and messy short hair stood with Ben. 

"Oh, hey Ben's dad," Amy said. "What are you doing?" 

"Ben's friends can call me Danny, Amy," the man said with a smile. "And Ben said you were bringing your uncle with us, and I just wanted to make sure he was... you know, decent. Not that I distrust any of your family members, just..." He trailed off and looked around sheepishly.

"Nah, I get it," Amy said with a cool smile. "Trent, this is our rhythm guitarist, Ben Moreno. And this is his dad, Mr.- er, um, Danny." 

"Wait a minute..." Trent thought for a moment. "Danny Moreno?" He pointed at Danny and looked at him with interest. 

Danny's eyes widened. "Trent Lane?" 

"How freaking small is this town?" Amy asked, stretching her arms out and looking at the ceiling. 

"I haven't seen you in almost twenty years, man," Danny said. 

"Yea, I know," Trent said back. "You or Jesse. He still around?" 

Danny smiled. "Taught my son everything he knows about music. Even gave him his old guitar he played in Mystik Spiral." 

"Wait, you were the lead singer in my uncle Jesse's band?" asked Ben. "You've got the best voice I've ever heard in a grunge band." 

"Thanks," Trent replied. Turning back to Danny, he asked, "What about Nick and Max?" 

"I think Nick is working at some music store in Fremont," answered Danny. "As for Max? I think he came by to visit Jesse at one point. Might be living in Baltimore, I dunno." 

"Man, we really all lost touch with each other, didn't we?" Trent asked, looking down sadly. 

"Mystik Spiral reunion tour! Mystik Spiral reunion tour!" Amy shouted, clapping at each word. 

Eventually, Ben joined along, and both began chanting. 

Trent smiled and motioned for them to stop. "Maybe. Maybe your band could even open for us if we did do that." 

"Aw, yea!" Amy shouted. 

"Anyways, once practice is over, you should show me where Jesse is nowadays," Trent said to Danny. "I wouldn't mind paying him a visit."

* * *

At the Morgendorffer-Lane household, the doorbell rang, prompting Jane to go to the door. "I'll get it." 

She opened the door, revealing Quinn and a vaguely familiar looking brown-haired woman with a smile on her face. 

"Hi, Jane," Quinn greeted. "You remember Stacy Rowe, right?" 

"Kinda," Jane said, squinting her eyes at the familiar face and beginning to recognize it. 

"I just figured we'd stop in and I'd show her how you two were doing," Quinn said, coming in. 

"Hi, Aunt Quinn," Philip said from the couch. "Oh, hi, Ms. Rowe." 

Stacy smiled. "You can call me Stacy, Philip." Looking around, she asked Jane, "Where's Daria? Or your daughter?" 

"Amy's at band practice and Daria's still at work, but both should be home any minute now," Jane replied. "In the meantime, make yourself at home." 

Stacy sat in a chair in the livingroom near the couch where Philip was sitting, watching TV. 

"What's on TV?" she asked. 

"Steven Universe," Philip replied. 

"Oh, that's the cartoon about the rocks who fight evil, right?" asked Stacy. At Philip's nod, she said, "I never thought I'd see the day where the son of Daria Morgendorffer and Jane Lane would watch cartoons." After a beat, she looked up in thought and added, "Come to think of it, I never thought I'd see the day where Daria Morgendorffer and Jane Lane would have kids period." 

"That's what I thought, too," Jane said with a chuckle from the kitchen. "But then, next thing you know, Amy arrives and Daria becomes the most overprotective parent on the planet." 

"Quinn was the same with the boys," Stacy said. "Took her forever to even entrust me with them." 

"And nevermind that lazy ex-husband of mine..." Quinn muttered bitterly.

* * *

Danny's car, which had Trent in the passenger's seat and Amy and Ben in the back, pulled up in front of a blank, but noticeably cleaned up building across the street from the movie theater. 

"Betcha he's still here," Danny said. "Ever since he bought this property, he's been working nonstop to set it up for something big." 

"Jesse? Working nonstop?" asked Trent with a smirk. 

"Well, there's a reason it took him so long to save up for it," Danny said with a smile. "Anyway, let's go in. I didn't call or text or anything, so you'll be a little surprise." 

The four got out of Danny's car and entered the building through an unlocked door at the side of it. The inside was blank, but there was a wooden stage set up in the back, tables and chairs all around, and a stand off to the side, presumably to buy food from. 

A man with long, tied back brown hair with a muscular build wearing a black tank top and pair of jeans was painting a part of the lower wall blue. 

"Yo, Jesse," Danny said, calling to the man. 

The man glanced up at his little brother and got up with a smile. "Hey, Dan. What brings you here?" 

"Well, you know Ben's new bandmate?" asked Danny. 

"Yea?" 

"Well, turns out she's related to someone you may want to see." Danny motioned towards Trent, who smiled and waved. 

"Trent Lane?" Jesse asked, his eyes widening. "Aw, damn! I haven't seen you in... I don't even know! Where you been, man?" 

"Up in Queens with my new band," replied Trent. "Trent Lane and the Mystik Explosion." 

"Ooh," Jesse said with a nod of approval. "Are you making it big?" 

"Well, I wouldn't call it making it big..." Trent replied, looking away with a frown. "Anyways, your nephew is pretty good with your old rhythm guitar. Even better than you." He looked back up and softly laughed. 

"Oh, I'm definitely better than him," said Ben with a smirk. 

"Oh, you be quiet," Jesse said with a smile, ruffling his nephew's hair. "So, how's the bassist related to you?" 

"My niece," Trent replied, putting a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Jane's daughter." 

"Jane has a daughter?" Jesse asked, looking surprised. 

"Yea, with Daria," Trent said, nodding. "They also have a son, a little bit younger than her." 

"Wow, with Daria," Jesse said. "Is it bad if I say I kinda saw that coming?" 

"We all did," Trent replied.

* * *

"So, Stacy, you went from being one of Lawndale High's resident fashion drones to being a stock car racer?" Daria asked, looking rather impressed. She was now at the table along with everyone else in the house. 

Stacy smiled and nodded. "Won the New England Grand Prix five years in a row, too." 

"I'm impressed," Daria said. "Both you and Quinn managed to pull yourselves out of the rabbit hole of shallowness and mindlessness and make something of yourselves." 

"Where did the other two Fashion Nazis end up?" asked Jane. 

"Tiffany is living pretty good, too," Stacy replied. "She lives in Boston with a rich husband. Sandi, on the other hand, is also married and they have a daughter who goes to Grove Hills." 

"No way a spawn of that thing could ever be intelligent enough to go to Grove Hills," Daria said. "Though I suppose, if it's really Sandi's daughter, she probably does have the stuck-up attitude to fit right in with." 

The conversation was cut off by a knock at the door. Jane once again got up and opened it to see Trent, Amy, and yet another familiar face. 

"As I live and breathe, Jesse Moreno," Jane greeted with a smile. "Haven't seen you in probably twenty years or so. Come on in." 

"Wait, Jesse?" Daria now went by the door where the three new arrivals were now entering. "How the hell did you manage to find him?" 

"Turns out that his nephew is one of Amy's bandmates," Trent replied. 

"Well, we already kinda have a cluster of people in here, but screw it," Daria said. She went into the kitchen with the others. "Quinn, you remember Jane's older brother, right?" 

"Oh, hey, Trent," said Quinn.

"Hey, Daria's sister," Trent said with a smile.

"Who's the other guy?" Stacy asked, pointing at Jesse. 

"Trent's old bandmate," Jane replied, sitting back down. 

"This is still really weird, Amy," Philip said from the table. 

"I still agree with you, Philip," Amy said back with a nod. 

"Eh, it may be weird, but it's a good thing," Quinn said. "Reuinions can be fun." 

"It's almost like the world's coming back together or something," Jesse said. 

After a beat, Trent turned to Jesse. "Jess, why don't you tell everyone about the little project I saw you working on today?" 

"Oh, yea," Jesse said. "I call it the Drumbeat Cafe. It's a music-based food joint. Basically, a less sketchy version of the Zon meets a low budget version of Hard Rock Cafe." 

"And it has a stage," Amy said with a smile. "A stage that a growing band could perform on and attract a lot of fans." 

Jesse looked at her and smiled. "I've promised Ben that you guys would be the Cafe's first performance since I bought the property." 

"We better be," Amy said. 

As Jane dished out food to everyone, she said, "You know, I think all these unexpected reunions show just how small this town is. Almost like there are only a handful of people that the world centers around and they all know each other." 

"Yea, speaking of that," Philip said, "did you and Dad know a Kevin Thompson and a Brittany Taylor?" 

"They were the two biggest morons in our class," Jane replied. "Why?" 

"Well, they're married with kids now," Philip said. "Their son is one of Amy's bandmates, and their daughter is the girl I like." 

Jane nearly dropped the plates she was holding while Daria almost choked on her glass of water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Oh, don't you wonder when the light begins to fade_   
_And the clock just makes the colors turn to gray_   
_Forever younger, growing older just the same_   
_All the memories that we make will never change_
> 
> _We'll stay drunk, we'll stay tan_  
_Let the love remain_  
_And I swear that I'll always paint you_  
_Golden days..._  
-Golden Days, Panic! at the Disco


	5. Monster Mash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Halloween in Lawndale, which means it's also time for the Thompsons' annual Halloween party. For the kids, this means a night of mundane fun. For their parents, it means having to talk to old peers. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I didn't intend to leave it this long (for some perspective, this was going to be episode 8), but things happened and things are on my mind. Excuses, excuses, I know, but I am very easily distracted, especially when school starts up again (am student).  
2\. This episode is probably the one with the least cohesive storyline I'll ever post, but screw it. It's a Halloween party. They have fun and eat candy. Still entertaining, and no less plotless than your average Daria episode, honestly (eg, Just Add Water, Malled, etc come to mind).  
3\. Happy Halloween!

Philip dispassionately stared at the dessert section of the lunch line as he walked past it. Lime-green gelatin, vaguely ghost-shaped marshmallow treats, and cupcakes piled with too much orange frosting and a piece of candy corn in the center stared back at him. 

"Don't trust the Jell-O," Teddy said flatly as he approached the table. "I'm pretty sure it's laced with some form of stimulant drug, considering how Timmy acts after eating it." He thought for a moment, then added, "That's not really saying much, though, is it?" 

Philip shrugged and picked one of the marshmallow treats. "Can't go wrong with these things." 

"Uh, you don't know Lawndale High well enough yet then." 

At the table, Natalie and Amy were already seated, both of them singing while enthusiastically drumming on the table. 

_"This is Halloween! This is Halloween!_   
_Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!"_

Breaking out into laughter, Amy turned to Philip. "Yo Phil, Natalie and her family are Halloween freaks. We gotta go to their party tonight." 

"Or you can spare yourselves and stay home and watch Tim Burton movies instead," said Teddy. 

"Aw, come on, Teddy," Natalie said back. "They're not that bad." 

"Easy for you to say," Teddy muttered as he sat down. "You actually give a damn about Halloween. And you aren't dragged there against your will by your mother." 

"Well, if Mom and Dad don't mind taking us, I would mind going," Philip said with a shrug.

"Great," Natalie said with a smile. "My parents throw pretty good Halloween parties and have been since I was a kid. Almost everyone at our school comes to them, even the teachers. Which... Yea, also a warning." She chuckled. 

"Sounds good," Amy said. "We'll be there."

* * *

"I can't believe they managed to convince us to take them to Kevin and Brittany's Halloween party," Daria said. 

"It's not too late to back out, esposa," responded Jane. 

Daria waved her hand dismissively. "Nah, might as well go. It can't be _that_ bad." 

"Ooh, are you becoming an optimist?" 

"Don't push it." 

Jane laughed. "Well, if we're going, what costume should I wear? Sexy vampire, bunny stripper, or witch?"

"Is the witch sexy, too?" 

"If you think it is." Jane shot her wife a wink. 

"You are aware that we will be at this party in front of children, right?" Daria asked, rolling her eyes. "Including our children?" 

"Witch costume it is."

* * *

Amy walked down the stairs wearing a tight black dress going far down enough to obscure her feet with black angel wings attached to the back of it. Her long black hair had a white extension attached to it on her right side and was combed to fall neatly over her shoulders. 

"How do I look?" she asked as she walked into the living room. 

Daria and Jane were in the living room. Daria wore a lab coat and Jane wore a long black oversized shirt, black pants, and a witch's hat. 

"You know, I did always call you my dark angel when you were little," Jane said. "I'm glad you made it into your costume." 

"And you're going as a witch," Amy responded, pointing to Jane. Turning to Daria, she continued, "And you're going as..." 

"A low-budget mad scientist," Daria explained. 

"Ah."

Philip came downstairs a short time later. His hair was ruffled up and he had green makeup covering his face, along with contouring around his eyes to make them look sunken in. His outfit included a torn up suit, pants with part of one leg cut off, and worn-out shoes. 

"Real sexy zombie costume, Phil," said Amy, looking him over. "Natalie's gonna love it." 

"Oh, buzz off," Philip responded. 

"Well, if you two are ready to go, let's get this over with," Daria said, heading towards the door.

* * *

The Thompsons' house wasn't super big, but was still bigger than most on its street. It had two Jack-o-lanterns set up on the top of the railings to the stairway leading to the front door, and an entire fake graveyard was set up in the front yard. 

"They really do go all out for these parties, huh?" Daria asked, looking around as she and her family got out of the car. 

"I guess so," Jane replied. "And those are some detailed Jack-o-lanterns." She lightly poked one of them as they went up to the door. "Maybe they are smart with at least one thing." 

Daria rang the doorbell, and was soon greeted by a blonde woman wearing a tight blue shirt and yellow skirt, instantly recognizable as Lawndale High's old cheerleader uniform, which Brittany still fit in. She also had her hair in her signature perky pigtails. The only difference between the Brittany they were seeing and the Brittany they knew in high school was a few smile lines on her face. 

Brittany looked at Daria thoughtfully for a few moments. "Do I know you?" 

"No, I don't think so," Daria answered, looking away. "Our kids were just invited to the party. Um, I've never met you before in my life." 

"Oh, ok," Brittany chirped with a smile. "You just looked familiar. Come on in." 

Daria let out a silent sigh of relief and walked in. Jane followed after her with an equally relieved smile, followed by Philip and Amy, who walked around the house looking for Natalie. 

They soon found her and KJ in the kitchen, each with a glass of bright green punch. KJ had green face paint on and fake stitches drawn on his neck and face and was wearing fake plastic bolts on his neck and a leather jacket. Natalie had her hair slicked back and much less choppy than usual and wore a black overcoat. 

"Yo," Natalie greeted when she noticed Amy and Philip. She had fake vampire fangs visible as she spoke. "Come try this punch. My parents decided to go for a toxic waste look this year instead of the usual blood. It's lemon-lime flavored." 

"I'm more into these delightfully sugary snacks than drinks," Amy said, looking with great interest at the table of food. A bowl of gummy eyeballs, several trays of cookies shaped like ghosts and pumpkins, a bowl of bite-sized candy, a dish of candy corn, and some cupcakes colored orange or black with a piece of candy corn stuck in them all sat there. 

"Go crazy," KJ said. "My parents have a lot of extras if all of the stuff on the table manages to get eaten." 

Amy immediately shoved an entire handful of candy corn in her mouth and grabbed a handful of the candy, rapidly unwrapping it and devouring it. 

"Hello, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane." Philip jumped at the sudden voice and turned around to see Hayley standing with her usual sour expression and crossed arms with the other Ice Dragons. They were all wearing colored button-ups and skirts, Hayley in red, Izzy in green, and Abby in yellow. 

"Um, hello," Philip awkwardly greeted. 

"The Heathers," Amy said, her speech muffled by the cupcake in her mouth. After swallowing, she said, "Such a basic musical. I bet you don't even know the storyline, particularly the part where two of you end up murdered." 

"We aren't talking to you, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane's sister," Hayley said, rolling her eyes. 

"And don't eat cupcakes like that," Izzy said with a disgusted look. "That's so... ick." 

"Look, I don't tell you how to live your life," Amy responded before cramming another cupcake in her mouth. 

"Anyway," Hayley turned back to Philip, "I see you came to the Thompsons' Halloween party, despite having proven yourself to be a complete dork unworthy of going to such social events. May I ask for a reason?" 

"So many words, yet she makes such a small statement," Natalie muttered. 

"I'm here because Natalie invited me," Philip replied. 

"Well, don't interact with us or be near us in any way," Hayley said with narrowed eyes as she and the Ice Dragons walked away. 

"Don't have to ask me twice," Philip said quietly to himself.

* * *

In the living room where Daria and Jane were sitting on the couch, they saw a black-haired boy wearing a football jersey get screaming as he was chased around by two little girls, one dressed as a salt shaker and the other a pepper shaker. 

"Jessica! Eva! Stop torturing your brother!" A slightly overweight man with slicked black hair and a leather jacket chased the girls through the living room. 

"Is that Kevin?" asked Daria with a surprised expression. 

"My god, he's gotten fat," Jane quietly said.

They turned to see the front door open and Quinn walked in with the TM3 dressed in a blue gown and a crown. Tommy was dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, Timmy in the apparel of an unfamiliar hockey player, and Teddy in a lamb onesie, looking quite unhappy to be wearing it. 

"I thought you had outgrown the age of dressing up as a fairy princess," Daria said, looking at Quinn's outfit. 

"I'm a queen, Daria," Quinn responded with a smile. 

"Fair enough," Daria said. "As for Teddy... That's definitely an outgrown costume." 

"He lost a bet," Tommy said with a devilish grin as he walked away. "With me, to be specific." 

"Damn siblings," Teddy mumbled before walking away. 

"Anyway, what brings you two here?" Quinn asked, sitting next to her sister on the couch. 

"We're pushovers to our children's desires," Jane replied. "And I get to break out my witch costume."

* * *

Teddy quickly managed to find Natalie and Philip quietly standing together with cups of punch. Amy sat on a kitchen chair nearby wiping frosting off of her face. 

"Hey, Teddy," Natalie greeted. "What's with the lamb costume?" 

"Lost a bet," Teddy quickly replied. "Don't acknowledge it or ever bring it up after this." 

"Understood, sir." 

"Hey, Teddy, nice lamb costume," Frau Livingston said as she walked into the kitchen. She herself was wearing a yellow duck onesie.

"I forgot the teachers were gonna be here," Amy mumbled quietly as she fixed herself a glass of punch. 

"I think it looks ridiculous, personally." Mr. Sloane followed soon after and scooped up a handful of gummy eyeballs. 

Teddy sighed and walked out of the kitchen. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom and see if I can drown myself in the toilet." 

"So, Philip, Amy, how are you two doing?" Mr. Sloaned asked through a mouthful of candy. 

"Fine," replied Philip. 

After looking away awkwardly, he asked, "Are your parents here?" 

"Um, yea," Amy replied with confusion. "They're in the living room." 

"Ok then." Mr. Sloane walked towards the entry to the living room, but poked his head back through and looked at Frau Livingston, who was grabbing two cupcakes. "Oh, JT? Don't go crazy on those cupcakes. You know how you get with sugar." 

"You can't control me," responded Frau Livingston as she flamboyantly walked away with the cupcakes.

* * *

Mr. Sloane could immediately clock the two people he wanted to find on the couch. Daria didn't look much different at all, only having slightly neater hair and square glasses instead of round ones. Jane was in a witch costume and her hair was much different than it was last time he had seen her, being undercut with skunk stripes, but she had the same face. 

He wondered if it was appropriate to talk to two of his ex girlfriends from back in high school so suddenly, especially since it seemed as though they were together now, but he approached them anyway. 

"Well, well, well," he greeted. "As I live and breathe, Daria and Jane." 

Daria and Jane looked up with surprise, immediately recognizing him. Jane was the first to speak, a friendly smile spreading across her face. 

"Tom Sloane!" she exclaimed. "How the hell are you?" 

"Hey," Daria said. "What are you doing here?" 

"I'm the English teacher at LHS now," replied Tom. "I've gotten to know Kevin and Brittany a little more, and now they invite me to this every year." 

"English teacher?" Daria asked with a smirk. "All that intellect being used to teach a bunch of dumbasses at a high school, huh?" 

"Eh, it's not always too bad," he said with a shrug. "And your kids are both doing well. I guess you two raised 'em right." 

"Is there anyone in this town our parents don't know?" Philip asked, standing by the door with Amy.

"I don't know them," Frau Livingston said from behind them, making them both jump. Not noticing their startled reactions, she casually took a bite out of a cupcake.

* * *

"Damn Tommy," Teddy mumbled. He was sitting on the floor of the bathroom absentmindedly scrolling on his phone with a scowl on his face. "Damn bet. Why the hell do I still go along with what those two idiots say?" 

A loud knock interrupted his ramblings, and Izzy's voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Um, could you, like, get out, please? Some of us have to pee, and, like, check our makeup and stuff." 

"I'm on my period," Teddy responded flatly with a not-so-convincing falsetto. 

"Ohhhh," Izzy responded. "My bad. Take your time."

* * *

As Philip walked through the hallway, he passed by the Ice Dragons walking in the opposite direction. Hayley took notice and made a lateral slide in front of him. 

"What did we say about not being near us in any way, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane?" she snarled. 

"Sorry," replied Philip, walking around her. 

"Don't you walk away from me!" She grabbed his collar and pulled him back. 

Philip turned to face her again with a blank expression, waiting for her to say anything else, when they were interrupted by a scream. They saw Trevor in a Ravens jersey sprinting down the hall towards them. Philip swiftly backed off to the wall, leaving Hayley to be knocked over at full force. 

"Ugh, get off of me, Trevor!" she yelled. 

"Sorry," Trevor responded with a sheepish smile. He got up and made a motion to help her up, wincing as Hayley slapped his hand and got up by herself. 

"So, what is your excuse for such ruffian behavior?" asked Hayley with folded arms. 

"Treeeeeeeeevooooor!" The group heard a sing-song voice of two little girls from nearby. 

"Oh, dear god!" Trevor took off running once again. 

Two little girls in salt and pepper shaker costumes followed his way soon after, but looked back at Philip and slowly backed up in front of him. 

"He's a cutie, isn't he, Eva?" the girl in the salt shaker asked. 

"Yea," the other in the pepper shaker replied with a smile. "What's your name?" 

"Um, Philip," replied Philip awkwardly. 

"That's a really cute name," the girl in the salt shaker said with a lovestruck sigh. "I'm Jessica, and this is my little sister, Eva." 

"Oh, yea, I remember you from your brother's band practice," Philip said with a friendly smile. 

"Philip, stop flirting with those two little girls," Amy said as she walked over to them, her mouth full of various chocolate candies.

"That's disgusting," Philip responded. "Everything about you is disgusting right now, in fact." 

Amy smiled playfully, chocolate stained on her teeth.

* * *

Back in the living room, Tom was still talking to Daria and Jane. "And so then, this kid flips me off, so I say-" He spotted Kevin and Brittany walking by together and cut off his story. "Yo, Kevin, Brittany, you guys remember Daria and Jane, right?" 

Daria quietly motioned for him to shut up as he spoke, facepalming as he didn't notice and proceeded to speak anyway. Daria suppressed a groan as Kevin and Brittany looked at her and Jane with smiles on their faces. 

"Oh, yea," Kevin said. "Hey, Daria. How you been?" 

"You silly goose," Brittany said with a laugh. "You told me at the door that you've never met me before in your life. Don't you remember us?" 

"Oh, silly me," deadpanned Daria. "How could I have possibly forgotten you two?" 

"I dunno," Kevin replied with a chuckle. "Anyway, you two like the party?" 

"It's fantastic," Jane answered with a grin. "You two sure know how to throw a Halloween party." 

"Aw, thanks!" Kevin smiled widely. 

"I'm glad you two can still be such good friends after all this time," Brittany said. 

"Well, they're married now," Tom told her. 

Kevin laughed in response. "Good one, Tom! But both of them dated you. They can't be gay. Not that I would care if they were or anything." 

"It's called bisexuality, Kevin," Daria said with exasperation. 

"Well, congrats, but I don't see what that has to with this," Kevin said back. "But what two languages can you speak?" 

Jane laughed while Daria sighed. "You two haven't changed a bit." 

"I'm gonna go see if the kids are ready to go home," Daria mumbled as she got off the couch.

* * *

Frau Livingston stumbled through the halls, her vision blurring as she searched for the bathroom. 

"Thomas was right about that sugar," she mumbled. "Oh, dear gosh..." 

She pounded on the door of the bathroom. "Open up, please!" 

"I'm indecent," Teddy said from inside, still sitting on the floor on his phone. 

"Gosh darn it," she whispered. 

"Um, Frau Livingston?" Amy asked as she saw her German teacher dizzily stumble towards her. 

"Hi, Amy," Frau Livingston responded with a halfhearted smile. "If you'll excuse me, I need to find a-" Her eyes widened and the smile fell. "Oh, dear god..." 

Daria walked into the hall just as she heard the puking noises, and looked down at Amy. "Yep, we're leaving. And running your costume through the washer. Several times."

* * *

"So, who had to clean up the barf mess Frau Livingston left?" asked Amy the next day as she walked to her locker with Teddy and Natalie.

"Trevor," Natalie replied. 

"Of course," Amy said with a nod. "Aside from that, though, I actually liked that party." Turning to Teddy, she asked, "I didn't see you around much, though. Where were you?" 

"Locked myself in the bathroom," Teddy replied bluntly. 

Amy eyed him suspiciously. "Were you still in there when my German teacher ralphed all over me?" 

"I dunno," Teddy replied. "Might have heard her knoc-" His eyes widened. "Crap." 

"That was my best costume, you bastard!" Amy yelled. 

"And now it's time to hide in the bathroom again." Teddy ran off, being chased by Amy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Put on your brake lights, we're in the city of wonder_   
_Ain't gonna play nice, watch out, you might just go under_   
_Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered_   
_So if you must falter, be wise_
> 
> _Your mind is in disturbia, it's like the darkness is the light_  
_Disturbia, am I scaring you tonight?_  
_Disturbia, ain't used for what you like_  
_Disturbia, disturbia..._  
-Disturbia, Rihanna
> 
> (not too related to the episode, but it's my favorite "Halloween-y" song :V )


	6. War and Masterpieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Philip signs up for Lawndale High's art club, but chaos plants its seeds as his crush and newfound enemies both join at the same time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a new damn episode. Only took me ten months. 
> 
> I won't waste precious authors' note space on explaining in graphic and pitiful detail what took me so long, so I'll just boil it down to paralyzing self doubt and feeling like nothing I could ever write would be good enough. But I think I'm more or less over it now and like how this chapter turned out, and I can promise you that I will never let this fic go this long about updates again (unless something super serious happens ofc). Believe me, I freakin' love this fic, and this hiatus hurt me more than it did you. 
> 
> Anyway... let's get on with it. :)

Philip sat in art class, putting the final touches on his rather detailed lead drawing of a cat sitting in a window with its head tilted. The side of his right hand was almost black with pencil lead, which he observed as he finished the drawing and put his pencil down. 

"This is why I hate working with pencils," he muttered as he wiped the black onto his pants. 

"Well, it's clearly worth it," his teacher said from directly behind him, startling him. "Very nice job, Philip." 

"Oh, thanks, Mrs. Curwick," Philip replied as he turned around. 

Mrs. Curwick smiled. "With that kind of art skill, I think you should join the Lawndale High Art Club." 

"We have an art club?" 

"Mm hm, and we're still accepting new members. We have a meeting tomorrow. Are you in?" 

Philip looked up in thought. "Hm... I dunno." 

"I'm giving everyone in any of my classes who joins extra credit, if that entices you." 

"Do I really need extra credit?" 

Mrs. Curwick laughed. "Didn't know you had that big of an ego, Philip." 

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Philip quickly stammered. "Just saying I get good grades." 

"Relax, I was kidding," said Mrs. Curwick with a chuckle. "You're right. A+ on every assignment so far. So, let me try something else: It'll look good on college applications." 

"My parents always taught me not to do things for the sole purpose of trying to appease to the overly selective standards of most colleges and universities." 

Mrs. Curwick sighed. "There'll be free snacks every meeting." 

"Deal."

* * *

"Art Club, huh?" Jane said at the dinner table that night. "I wish they had that when we were in high school." 

"No way Ms. Li would have sacrificed any of her precious budget to something like that," responded Daria. 

"True," said Jane. With a teasing smirk, she added, "Plus, your clingy ass wouldn't have let me join anyway." 

"Oh, shut it." 

"Art Club sounds lame," Amy said. "You just sit in a room after school hours and draw. You can do that in the comfort of your own bedroom without teachers and other people around." 

"I know, but she says there'll be snacks," Philip responded. "Mrs. Curwick makes some good fruit tarts, even if it is obvious that they were stress baked at 3 am." 

"Oh, Philip, always drinking the Kool-aid."

* * *

The next day, Philip came to the meeting as promised and immediately sat at a table in the back, munching on a fruit tartlet and doodling on a page in his sketchbook. 

"Philip Morgendorffer-Lane, what are you doing here?" 

Philip looked up to see the Ice Dragons standing in front of his desk with the same irritated scowls and crossed arms they always had when they saw him. 

"Um, drawing and eating," he replied. "What are _you_ doing here?" 

"We're asking the questions!" Hayley barked. 

"It's an good way to look good to colleges without putting any actual effort in," Abby said with a smile. Seeing Hayley glare at her, she dropped the smile and asked, "Oh, um, was I not supposed to answer him?" 

"You're, like, such a weak round thingy on a chain, Abby," Izzy said as the Ice Dragons walked away. 

After they left, Philip flipped to another page of his sketchbook. Putting down his food and grabbing a pencil, he drew three cartoonish, but detailed dragons, the biggest of which had a frightened cartoon version of him hanging out of its mouth by his hood. 

Seeing that there was still empty space left, Philip smiled and used the bottom left corner of the page to draw a knight with dark, choppy hair holding a sword up to the dragons. 

He was too preoccupied coloring the image in to see someone else entering the room. 

"Sorry I'm late, Mrs. Curwick," said Natalie as she entered the room and grabbed a tartlet. "Got a detention with Draxler again." 

"Yea, I know how it goes," Mrs. Curwick replied. "She's... you know. Anyway, you can maybe help out someone else here since the meeting's almost over." 

"Hm... okay." Natalie spotted Philip at the back table and made her way over to him. 

Philip looked up and saw her, gasping as he threw his hands over the knight in his drawing. "Uh, uh... hi, Natalie." 

"Hey, Philip." Natalie sat next to him. "Whatcha drawing?" 

"Oh, you know, just a... just a thing," replied Philip, quickly and sloppily adding length to the knight's hair and giving it a mustache and beard before putting his hands behind his chair to reveal the full drawing.

Natalie looked over the drawing. "Cool drawing, man. Are those dragons supposed to be, say... ice dragons?" She tilted her head to where the Ice Dragons were sitting in the corner of the room. Philip nodded in response.

"Hm. I haven't heard their nickname used in a literal sense since they first started going by it." 

"Um, why did they start going by that?" 

"Well, it all started when they were in third grade. The class read a book about dragons that had all these different types that corresponded to different elements, and they all became obsessed pretty quickly. I remember Trevor always going on and on about them whenever he came home from school. 

"But anyway, they decided to categorize themselves by what type of dragon they would be. Sorta like a crazy self-made zodiac. My brother and his friends ended up the Fire Dragons because they were fighty, hot-blooded, and, well, mainstream. Shy kids became Air Dragons, chill, quiet kids became Water Dragons, you get the gist. And those three idiots became the Ice Dragons, for being cold. And their nickname somehow stuck for years after." 

"Huh." 

"So, anyway, I was told to 'help someone,'" Natalie said, using air quotes on the last two words. "Mind if I add something?" 

Philip passed the sketchbook over to her. "Okay." 

Natalie grabbed a pencil and began writing something at the top. When she put the pencil down, it was revealed to be _The Slaying of the Fiendish Ice Dragons_ written in a messy gothic style. 

"I think that ties it together pretty well, don't you think?" she asked.

Philip nodded and smiled as he continued coloring. After he finished coloring the picture itself, he added some outlining to the letters Natalie had written. 

"Okay, guys, we have ten minutes left," said Mrs. Curwick a few seconds after Philip finished coloring. "Let's do a little critique. Show your art to someone else and have them give you their thoughts." 

Natalie devilishly smirked and grabbed the drawing, walking over towards the corner the Ice Dragons were sitting in. "Oh, I know exactly who we're gonna show this to."

"Uh..." Philip reluctantly followed after her. "I'm not sure if that's a great idea." 

"What are you talking about? It's a fantastic idea." 

"Um... alright..." 

The two approached the Ice Dragons' table, where Hayley and Izzy were sitting on their phones with scribbles of smiley faces and stick people drawn on their papers and Abby was smiling and drawing a girl in a dress. 

"Hey, losers," said Natalie coldly as she slammed Philip's drawing onto the table. "Critique our drawing, would ya?" 

"No, thank you," replied Hayley without even looking up. 

"Come on, Hayley. Tell us what you think of our masterpiece." 

"Is your hearing damaged, freak?" Hayley asked with a glare. "I said no." 

"Is your brain damaged, half-wit?" Natalie asked back. "Look at the damn drawing. I'm sure you'll love it." 

Hayley rolled her eyes, set her phone down, and looked at the drawing. Seeing its content, she narrowed her eyes and frowned, staring daggers at both Natalie and Philip. 

"I can't believe you two would draw such slander against us!" she yelled. 

"I think this would be libel, not slander," Philip said. 

"Shut up, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane!" Hayley snapped at him. "Of course, it is no surprise to me that a rotten miscreant like you would create something like this." 

"Wait, what?" Izzy asked, just noticing the conversation. 

"Wow, Philip, did you draw that?" asked Abby, looking at the drawing herself. "That's really good!" 

"Yea," said Izzy. "Like, really good." 

"The dragons are supposed to be us, imbeciles," Hayley said to them. "He's implying that we are bloodthirsty murderers, and that some strange man with terrible fashion sense should slay us." 

"Ohhhhh," Izzy said. "Ewwww." 

"Exactly." 

"Glad you hate it so much," Natalie said with a smile. "I guess me and Phil will be on our way then." 

As she and Philip walked away with the drawing, Hayley stood up at her desk and shot them an icy stare. "Don't think we will let this dirty deed go without vengeance, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane and his weird friend! You will both rue this day!" 

"What are you gonna do?" asked Philip. 

"Pelt us with empty lipstick containers?" asked Natalie. 

Philip smiled. "Hold my cousins hostage and torture them until I give into your demands?" His smile faded soon after he said that. "Actually, that doesn't sound very out-of-character for you." 

"Oh, you'll see," Hayley said darkly.

* * *

The next day at Art Club, Philip and Natalie sat together once again, both eating cupcakes and working on their own respective works of art. Philip was using pastels to add color to a drawing of Amy's guitar while Natalie was using quick-dry clay to sculpt a crude cat's head. 

Meanwhile, the Ice Dragons sat at their own table with a large piece of paper in front of them. 

"Okay," said Hayley. "What are we going to draw to wreak our vengeance on Philip Morgendorffer-Lane and his weird friend?" 

"Um, I think her name is Natalie," Abby said quietly. "Natalie Thompson. Trevor's sister."

"This information is irrelevant to our goal, Abby," Hayley said with a glare. "Now, do you have any revenge ideas, or do you plan on telling us her middle name, too?" 

"Um... um..." Abby put her hand on her head and looked away from Hayley in fear. "Um... well, they drew us as killer animals being slayed, so maybe we could do the same with them. You know, draw them as killer animals with us slaying them." 

"Great idea," responded Hayley with a smile. She slid the paper and art supplies over to Abby with the smile replaced by a stern look. "Draw it." 

Abby smiled and soaked in the praise, ignoring the brash demand that came afterwards. "Okay!"

* * *

When the drawing was complete, Hayley did the same thing Natalie had done to her the previous day and slammed the drawing down on Philip and Natalie's table. "I believe you owe us a critique." 

Philip and Natalie both looked at the drawing. It showed three people, presumably meant to represent the Ice Dragons, standing victoriously over what they assumed to be them frowning and hooked up to dog leashes the Hayley drawing was holding. 

"Oh, I see what we're doing here," said Philip. "We make stupid art of you, so you make stupid art of us. I gotta say, it's a little weird to go with this theme, considering your initial complaint was that we made you into monsters. Isn't holding us hostage on dog leashes kinda proving that?" 

Abby stepped forward and pointed her finger up. "Well, actually, I was kind of aiming for the interpretation that we were rightfully imprisoning you two for trying to frame and kill us. Kind of a continuity piece from your drawing." 

"Oh," Philip said. "Shouldn't you have kept yourselves as dragons then?" 

"Stop it with the pedantics, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane!" shouted Hayley. 

"His point is, you failed," said Natalie flatly. "Better luck next time." 

"This is all your fault, Abby," Hayley angrily muttered as they walked back to their own table, Abby shamefully hanging down her head and whimpering in response. 

"This is fun," said Natalie with a smile. She narrowed her eyes as her grin became much more mischievous. "We continuing this?" 

Philip's mouth spoke before his brain thought it over. "Uh... okay!"

* * *

Later that day, Philip walked through the house looking for his mother. Surely, she'd have good ideas on what he could do next, not to mention find the situation hilarious. 

He was stopped, though, when Daria walked through the kitchen to where he was and immediately walked towards him. 

"Hey, Philip," she said. "I'm working on another short story and need your input, since God knows your mother and Amy can't be trusted to give it to me." 

"Oh," Philip responded, sitting down on the couch. "Well, I was just looking for Mom, but it's not really urgent. Lay it on me." 

Daria sat next to her son. "It centers around an intelligent man who's part of this group escaping to a remote part of the desert from evil androids infected by a sentient computer virus. He takes a group of people in a bus they find in the city and they fight the androids." 

Philip held back a smile as he contemplated how he could use that. "Hm... Sounds great." 

Daria frowned. "Well, thanks, but I was looking for something a little more-" 

Philip was already walking away with a smile on his face. "Thanks, Dad!" 

Daria blinked in confusion for a few moments. "Um... you're welcome." She shook her head and muttered to herself, "I wonder how good Quinn is with honest feedback..."

* * *

Philip's next drawing showed much more robotic looking Ice Dragons being run over by a bus, sending sparks flying everywhere and exposed wiring spilling out of their bodies. 

"Graphic," Natalie said as she looked it over. "They'll hate it, I'm sure." 

Biting his lip to avoid smiling like a dork, Philip speedwalked over to the Ice Dragons' table and placed the art there. He let the smile slip through, however, as he saw Hayley's cartoonish scowl of contempt as she looked at it. 

And so, the petty battle of drawings continued to nearly the end of the following week. The Ice Dragons in military uniforms (albeit ones that seemed to prioritize aesthetic over practicality) shooting at giant Philip and Natalie, Natalie holding a stake to an incapacitated vampire version of Hayley with dust surrounding them, and many more increasingly bizarre and graphic depictions were included. 

It came to its bloody end that Thursday. 

It was Philip and Natalie's turn to attack, and Philip decided to draw their newfound rivals as witches with himself dumping a bucket of water on them. Their faces were green, covered in warts, and generally far uglier than they were in real life. 

Hayley's usual look of rage was even more intense when she saw that one. The paper crumpled in her hands and she got up and stormed to the artists with a look of utter contempt and fury coloring her face red. 

"I've dealt with far too many of your slanderous drawings, Philip Morgendorffer-Lane," she growled as Izzy and Abby joined her. "But this is too far." She pointed to the large wart on the face of her drawn counterpart. "I wash my face twice every day to make sure things like this never happen! My pores are tiny, clean, and will never, _ever_ transform into a blemish of this variety!" 

"Yea, and we'll, like, never have boils like that," said Izzy.

Philip didn't even look up, instead focusing on a different doodle he was making. "You've drawn us as far worse, Hayley." 

"Yea." Natalie glared up at her with a teasing smile. "But since this one offended you so much, I guess that means we win." 

Hayley groaned in frustration through her bared teeth in response before crumpling the drawing up and throwing it at Natalie's head. She then took Philip's drawing and did the same.

"Hey!" Philip protested. 

Natalie caught Philip's crumpled drawing before it could hit her. "That's enough. Go sit down and we can just end it, alright?" 

"Absolutely not alright, you freak!" 

"Yea, not alright," Izzy said. 

Natalie sighed and grabbed another piece of paper from the stack of them in the back of the classroom. "Well, if you insist..." 

The paper was quickly folded into a paper airplane and thrown towards the Ice Dragons. It hit Abby square on the nose, which she reacted to with a startled yelp. 

Hayley picked the paper airplane up from Abby's feet and threw it at Hayley, who swung to the side to dodge it. It stayed on its course and ended up hitting Mrs. Curwick in the forehead, who looked up with a look that could kill. 

Natalie quickly hopped back into her seat next to Philip, who put his hands up and gave a wide-eyed look as if to say, _"Wasn't me."_ The Ice Dragons didn't run, but attempted to shoot their art teacher innocent smiles. 

"You three, out of the art club," Mrs. Curwick said quietly. "Natalie, I saw you roughhousing, too. All four of you, detention with me tomorrow." 

"Detention on a Friday night?" asked Izzy with disgust. "That's so, like, ew." 

"Well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you fooled around." 

Abby bit her lip before bursting out with, "Philip was fooling around with us all, too!" 

Philip shot her an irritated look. "What the- no, I wasn't!" 

"Yea! He and Natalie were making mean drawings of us!" She picked up one of the crumpled pieces of paper on the ground and revealed it as the witch drawing, which had _PHILLIP ML_ and _NATALIE T_ written on it on both bottom corners. 

"Yo, they were making stupid drawings of us first!" protested Natalie. 

"But you started it," Izzy chimed in. 

A lot of arguing ensued and got louder to the point where no one could hear what the others were saying before Mrs. Curwick finally cut it off with a loud _"Quiet!"_

The kids instantly silenced themselves, and Mrs. Curwick took her glasses off and rubbed her nose, taking deep breaths as she did so. When she finally calmed down and put them back on, she waved her hand dismissively. 

"Look, I'll- I'll redact the detentions, and even allow you all to stay here," she said in a tone of exhaustion. "Just please, for the love of God, stay the hell away from each other."

"Aye aye, captain," Natalie said with a half-hearted mock salute as she sat back down. 

Hayley simply turned up her nose and walked back to the table followed by Izzy and Abby while Mrs. Curwick dragged herself back to her desk. 

"Wow," Philip said. "That was... interesting." 

"Yea," Natalie agreed. "Interesing indeed." 

Philip bit his lip and looked down while he thought of something else to say. Trying to suppress a blush threatening to take over his face, he finally awkwardly stammered, "I-it was fun, though. You're, uh, you're fun to hang out with." 

Natalie smiled, which turned his face red. "You are, too." She got up and started to make her way towards the door. "Anyway, we better get going." 

Philip waved at her before looking down at the table and considering the events of what happened. 

"Amy was right," he whispered to himself. "I really do drink the Kool-aid."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(Woo-oo) And you know I'm yours  
(Woo-oo) And I know you're mine  
(Woo-oo) And that's for all of time_
> 
> _Oo-wee-oo, I look just like Buddy Holly  
Oh-oh, and you're Mary Tyler Moore  
I don't care what they say about us anyway  
I don't care about that_  
-Buddy Holly, Weezer 
> 
> (next chapter is about half done, and I'm hoping to get it out this weekend! I'm not joking when I say I never want a hiatus this long again. it's good to be back, y'all.)


End file.
